Noise Measurements of Discrete HEMT Transistors and Application to Wideband Very Low-Noise Amplifiers

Akgiray, Ahmed; Weinreb, S.; Leblanc, Rémy; Renvoise, M.; Frijlink, P.; Lai, R.; Sarkozy, S.

doi:10.1109/tmtt.2013.2273757

Cited by 45 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…These experiments often use high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) amplifiers, which typically have a noise temperature of 2-5 K in the 4-8 GHz range [10]. This noise is 10-40 times above the standard quantum limit, the fundamental limit imposed by quantum mechanics [11].…”

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confidence: 99%

Broadband parametric amplifiers based on nonlinear kinetic inductance artificial transmission lines

Chaudhuri

Irwin

et al. 2017

Applied Physics Letters

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We present broadband parametric amplifiers based on the kinetic inductance of superconducting NbTiN thin films in an artificial (lumped-element) transmission line architecture. We demonstrate two amplifier designs implementing different phase matching techniques: periodic impedance loading, and resonator phase shifters placed periodically along the transmission line. Our design offers several advantages over previous CPW-based amplifiers, including intrinsic 50 ohm characteristic impedance, natural suppression of higher pump harmonics, lower required pump power, and shorter total trace length. Experimental realizations of both versions of the amplifiers are demonstrated. With a transmission line length of 20 cm, we have achieved gains of 15 dB over several GHz of bandwidth.Cryogenic low-noise broadband amplifiers are critical for a variety of applications, such as the multiplexed readout of astronomical detectors [1][2][3] and superconducting qubits [4][5][6], the manipulation of mechanical resonators coupled to microwave cavities [7], and the study of nonclassical states of microwave light [8,9]. These experiments often use high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) amplifiers, which typically have a noise temperature of 2-5 K in the 4-8 GHz range [10]. This noise is 10-40 times above the standard quantum limit, the fundamental limit imposed by quantum mechanics [11].Over the last decade, there has been rapid development of quantum-limited microwave amplifiers, including particularly Josephson parametric amplifiers (JPAs) [12][13][14]. JPAs use the dissipationless nonlinearity of Josephson junctions in a parametric process to achieve gain. Both narrowband JPAs, based on junction-embedded resonant architectures, and broadband JPAs, based on junction-embedded transmission lines, have been developed and have demonstrated near quantum-limited noise performance [15,16]. However, the ∼ 10 µA critical current of the junctions limits the dynamic range of these devices and excludes them from some important applications, such as the multiplexed readout of thousands of qubits or detectors. In addition, fabricating a large number (> 1000) of junctions with high yield is a nontrivial task.Recently, another type of broadband parametric amplifier based on the nonlinear kinetic inductance of NbTiN transmission lines has been proposed [17,18,[20][21][22]. These devices are simple to fabricate, requiring only one lithography step (patterning of the NbTiN film). Due to the 1 mA critical currents of the films, the amplifier saturation power is 5-6 orders of magnitude higher than JPAs, making them promising for readout of a large array of detectors or qubits. In contrast with reflectiontype resonant JPAs, the traveling-wave architecture of the NbTiN amplifier eliminates the need for a circulator, enabling on-chip integration with a detector or qubit. In previous work, NbTiN amplifiers were realized as long coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission lines, with >20 dB gain over several GHz bandwidth [18]. Despite the excellent gain perform...

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confidence: 99%

Broadband parametric amplifiers based on nonlinear kinetic inductance artificial transmission lines

Chaudhuri

Irwin

et al. 2017

Applied Physics Letters

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“…The cryogenic small-signal model was obtained by reducing the gate-to-source capacitance to 70% of HEMT's room temperature value which is based on our previous empirical data [5] and the expected decrease in optimum drain current for low noise when the HEMT is cryogenically cooled (as discussed in [14]). Furthermore, the was set to 1400 K based on cryogenic measurements of discrete transistors presented in [15]. The small-signal gate-to-source resistance and [16] for a 2f30-m device (note that the simulation does not take into account matching network or waveguide probe transition losses).…”

Section: Cryogenic Measurements and Noise Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A WR4 Amplifier Module Chain With an 87 K Noise Temperature at 228 GHz

Varonen

Samoska

Fung

et al. 2015

IEEE Microw. Wireless Compon. Lett.

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In this letter we report an ultra-low-noise amplifier module chain in the WR4 frequency range. The amplifier chips were fabricated in a 35 nm InP HEMT technology and packaged in waveguide housings utilizing quartz E-plane waveguide probes. When cryogenically cooled to 22 K and measured through a mylar vacuum window, the amplifier module chain achieves a receiver noise temperature of 87 K at 228 GHz and less than a 100 K noise temperature from 217 to 236 GHz. The LNA modules have 21-31 dB gain and the power dissipation is 12.4-15.8 mW. To the best of authors' knowledge, these are the lowest LNA noise temperatures at these frequencies reported to date.

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“…Over the years, a large number of scientific papers have been devoted to the analysis of the high-frequency linear behavior of this type of transistor, going from scattering (S-) to noise (N-) parameters measured in a variety of experimental conditions and applying different techniques [7][8][9][10]. This is because an accurate characterization is of fundamental importance to ensure the successful design of microwave low noise amplifiers, playing a key role in determining the overall receiver performance [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microwave Linear Characterization Procedures of On-Wafer Scaled GaAs pHEMTs for Low-Noise Applications

et al. 2019

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This contribution deals with the microwave linear characterization and noise figure measurement of four on-wafer GaAs pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistors having scaled gate widths. The proposed measurement campaign has been fulfilled in two different laboratories: The University of Messina, Italy and US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA. Two equivalent approaches have been straightforwardly employed: a standard tuner-based technique and a novel tuner-less technique. The effectiveness of the novel technique has been confirmed as carried out independently by the two laboratories, evidencing the benefits of both techniques. The proposed experimental activity highlights the applicability of the tunerless technique for the noise characterization of advanced on-wafer devices without the constraint imposed by the addition of a source tuner to the standard measurement setup.

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Noise Measurements of Discrete HEMT Transistors and Application to Wideband Very Low-Noise Amplifiers

Cited by 45 publications

References 21 publications

Broadband parametric amplifiers based on nonlinear kinetic inductance artificial transmission lines

Broadband parametric amplifiers based on nonlinear kinetic inductance artificial transmission lines

A WR4 Amplifier Module Chain With an 87 K Noise Temperature at 228 GHz

Microwave Linear Characterization Procedures of On-Wafer Scaled GaAs pHEMTs for Low-Noise Applications

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