distributed amplifier monolithic microwave integrated ... · a very broadband distributed amplifier...

Distributed Amplifier Monolithic Microwave Integrated

Circuit (MMIC) Design

by John E. Penn

ARL-TR-6237 October 2012

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

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Army Research Laboratory Adelphi, MD 20783-1197

ARL-TR-6237 October 2012

Distributed Amplifier Monolithic Microwave Integrated

Circuit (MMIC) Design

John E. Penn

Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate, ARL


ii

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Distributed Amplifier Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Design

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John E. Penn

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13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

14. ABSTRACT

A very broadband distributed amplifier was designed using a 0.13-µm gallium arsenide (GaAs) pseudomorphic high electron

mobility transistor (PHEMT) process from TriQuint Semiconductor. The design and fabrication of this circuit was performed

as part of the fall 2011 Johns Hopkins University Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Design Course, taught by

the author. The design approach is applicable to very broadband, low noise MMICs that could be used for a variety of radio

frequency (RF) and microwave systems.

15. SUBJECT TERMS

MMIC, distributed amplifier

16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION

OF

ABSTRACT

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PAGES

28

19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON

John E. Penn a. REPORT

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(310) 394-0423

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98)

Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18

iii

Contents

List of Figures iv

1. Introduction 1

2. Distributed Amplifier Design 1

3. Sonnet Simulations 6

4. Testing 13

5. Conclusion 17

6. References 18

List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Acronyms 19

Distribution List 20

iv

List of Figures

Figure 1. Distributed amplifier with three stages. ...........................................................................2

Figure 2. Distributed amplifier with three stages using lumped element feeds. .............................2

Figure 3. Gain measurements vs. simulations for a 0.5-µm PHEMT distributed amplifier (2006). ........................................................................................................................................3

Figure 4. S-parameter performance of an ideal distributed amplifier design (thin lines) vs. the TriQuint elements (thick lines). ...........................................................................................4

Figure 5. S-parameter performance of an ideal distributed amplifier design (thin lines) vs. the DC to 30 GHz amplifier with TriQuint elements (thick lines). ...........................................4

Figure 6. Schematic of an ideal distributed amplifier design. ........................................................5

Figure 7. Schematic of the TriQuint element distributed amplifier design. ...................................5

Figure 8. Layout plot of the TriQuint element distributed amplifier designs on a 54x54 mil die. ..............................................................................................................................................6

Figure 9. Sonnet electromagnetic (EM) layout plot of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier. ......7

Figure 10. Sonnet EM simulation of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier with a 31-GHz stability problem. .......................................................................................................................8

Figure 11. Sonnet EM layout plot of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier “redo.” ......................9

Figure 12. Sonnet EM simulation of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier “redo” with improved stability. .....................................................................................................................9

Figure 13. Layout plot of the modified TriQuint element distributed amplifier designs (54x54 mil)...............................................................................................................................10

Figure 14. Sonnet EM current plot of the modified distributed amplifier at 30 GHz. ..................11

Figure 15. Sonnet EM current plot of the modified distributed amplifier at 2 GHz. ....................11

Figure 16. Sonnet EM current plot of the original distributed amplifier at 30 GHz. ....................12

Figure 17. Sonnet EM current plot of the original distributed amplifier at 2 GHz. ......................12

Figure 18. Noise figure and gain performance of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier design. ......................................................................................................................................13

Figure 19. Simulated noise figure: distributed amplifier designs (red-1G+, black-DC+). ...........14

Figure 20. Measured output power, gain, and efficiency performance of the 1‒30 GHz distributed amplifier design at 10 GHz. ..................................................................................14

Figure 21. Simulated output power, gain, and efficiency performance of the 1‒30 GHz distributed amplifier design at 10 GHz. ..................................................................................15

Figure 22. Measured output power, gain, and efficiency performance of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier design at 10 GHz. ...................................................................................15

v

Figure 23. Simulated output power, gain, and efficiency performance of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier design at 10 GHz. ..................................................................................16

Figure 24. A 3-D view of the MMIC distributed amplifier layout (1 GHz+). ..............................16

vi

INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.

1

1. Introduction

Very broadband gain can be achieved with distributed amplifiers. The idea of using transmission

lines to connect the input and output feeds of parallel gain stages, each with small but broadband

gain, was proposed in 1936, but gained popularity after a 1948 paper from Bill Packard (co-

founder of Hewlett-Packard Co.) et al. using vacuum tubes for the gain stages (1). While many

monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) are optimized for a particular band to achieve

optimal performance, there are many applications that require a broadband response from DC to

very high microwave frequencies: such as fiber-optic drivers, electronic warfare (EW) receivers,

and other broadband radio frequency (RF) sensors or communications systems.

The distributed amplifier designs documented here were fabricated as part of the Johns Hopkins

University (JHU) MMIC Design Course in fall 2011. A similar distributed amplifier design

using TriQuint’s TQPED 0.5-µm gallium arsenide (GaAs) pseudomorphic high electron mobility

transistors (PHEMTs) was designed and fabricated along with the student designs for the 2006

JHU MMIC Design Course. That earlier 0.5-µm PHEMT design worked well from 1 to 10 GHz

and was published in the November 2007 issue of Microwaves and RF (2). This distributed

amplifier design uses a much higher frequency TriQuint TQP13 0.13-µm PHEMT process,

resulting in more than two decades of gain bandwidth. Depending on the frequency, space

available, etc., the “transmission line” feeds of the distributed amplifier can be distributed,

typically microstrip, or the feed can be a lumped element transmission line equivalent (3). This

distributed amplifier uses the lumped element transmission line equivalent approach, but could

have used microstrip line feeds.

2. Distributed Amplifier Design

In the distributed amplifier, a signal travels down the input transmission line feeding each of

several parallel gain stages (figure 1). Each gain stage has a small amount of gain, but the gain is

broadband, summing up at the output transmission line to provide an amplified signal.

Typically, there is a cutoff frequency limiting the number of stages that can be paralleled.

Depending on frequency, size available, device characteristics, etc., it may be beneficial to

replace the distributed transmission line with a lumped element equivalent of a transmission line,

which uses the input and output capacitance of a transistor gain stage tuned to inductances in the

feed lines to control the impedances and gain over a broad operating band (figure 2).

2

Figure 1. Distributed amplifier with three stages.

Figure 2. Distributed amplifier with three stages using lumped element feeds.

The drain (output) and gate (input) feed lines of the distributed amplifier design are terminated in

a 50-ohm resistor. This tends to dissipate half the output power, resulting in lower efficiency.

There is a method using tapered output lines to try and reduce this 3-dB loss, but the

implementation can be difficult to achieve, except in simulations using ideal elements. In the

lumped element approach, the inductances in the gate and drain lines are adjusted to create a

matched 50-ohm input and output impedance over a broad range with relatively flat gain. The

number of transistor stages and the size of the device can be tuned to optimize the performance.

Figure 3 shows the good agreement between simulations of the previous 0.5-µm PHEMT

distributed amplifier of 2006 and measurements of the fabricated circuit.

3

dB(S(2,1))

dB(DA3ms3_3V..S(2,1))

dB(DA3ms3V..S(2,1))

dB(Damp3B_tqs_mln_msdev..S(2,1))

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110 12

-5

0

5

10

15

-10

20

freq, GHz

dB

(S(2

,1))

dB

(DA

3m

s3_3V

..S

(2,1

))dB

(DA

3m

s3V

..S

(2,1

))dB

(Dam

p3B

_tq

s_m

ln_m

sdev..S

(2,1

))

Forward Transmission, dB

dB(S(2,1))

dB(DA3ms3_3V..S(2,1))

dB(DA3ms3V..S(2,1))

dB(Damp3B_tqs_mln_msdev..S(2,1))

ADS/Sonnet

Measured

Figure 3. Gain measurements vs. simulations for a 0.5-µm PHEMT distributed amplifier (2006).

Using a much higher frequency 0.13-µm PHEMT process from TriQuint, an updated distributed

amplifier was designed. A lumped element approach was maintained with some initial tuning of

the transistor size along with the drain and gate feed inductors to obtain a first cut of the

amplifier design. Then, ideal elements were replaced with actual “lossy” passive MMIC

elements and re-tuned based on the simulations. Two nearly similar versions of the distributed

amplifier were created with one subtle difference. The first design uses a spiral inductor

connected in parallel to the 50-ohm drain termination, which reduces DC power consumption.

This limits the low end frequency response to about 1 GHz, and, as the design has two decades

of bandwidth, the resonance of this inductor causes a slight ripple in the gain (~20 GHz), as

shown in the preliminary S-parameter simulation of figure 4. The simulation compares the

amplifier using TriQuint’s TQP13 passive elements, without interconnect, versus ideal lumped

elements. In the alternate layout, the DC supply current through the 50-ohm drain termination

reduces the power efficiency, but allows gain at much lower frequencies than supplying DC

current through the inductor. Figure 5 shows a similar simulation comparing the alternate DC to

a 30-GHz amplifier using TriQuint’s TQP13 passive elements, without interconnect, versus ideal

lumped elements. The preliminary schematic using ideal elements is shown in figure 6, with the

“lossy” TQP13 schematic in figure 7. Again, the only difference in the two designs is the DC

supply in the upper top left of the schematics. Originally, an external DC gate bias was to be

supplied, but it can be difficult to make a broadband DC supply for a distributed amplifier over

two decades of bandwidth. The gate (input) DC supply was simplified by terminating the

50-ohm load resistor to a substrate ground via to provide a fixed 0 V “Vgs”. This removes the

flexibility of controlling the drain current, but it also removes any resonances and potential

4

instabilities that might be created in the gate DC bias supply. For these TQP13 PHEMT devices,

0 V “Vgs” bias provides good gain, and good noise figure at a moderate DC power consumption.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50

Frequency (GHz)

SParam_1G_Damp

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

DB(|S(2,2)|)Damp11

DB(|S(1,1)|)Damp11

DB(|S(2,1)|)Damp11

DB(|S(2,1)|)Damp11_idl



Figure 4. S-parameter performance of an ideal distributed amplifier design (thin lines) vs.

the TriQuint elements (thick lines).

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50

Frequency (GHz)

SParam_DC_Damp2

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

0.7963 GHz-10.1 dB

31.13 GHz-10.14 dB7.42 GHz

-9.689 dB

0.315 GHz11.14 dB

20.05 GHz9.983 dB

DB(|S(2,2)|)

Damp11_2

DB(|S(1,1)|)

Damp11_2

DB(|S(2,1)|)

Damp11_2

DB(|S(2,1)|)

Damp11_idl

DB(|S(1,1)|)

Damp11_idl

DB(|S(2,2)|)

Damp11_idl

Figure 5. S-parameter performance of an ideal distributed amplifier design (thin lines)

vs. the DC to 30 GHz amplifier with TriQuint elements (thick lines).

5

DC_VID=V5Sweep=NoneV=3 V

INDID=L10L=1000 nH

1

2

3

TQP13_PHSS_T3iID=PHSSi1W=WfNG=4TQP13_PHSS_T3_MB=PHSS_T3

TQP13_SVIAID=TQ_VIAL_1

1

2

3



1

2

3





1

TQP13_PADID=TQ_BP_2

1

TQP13_PADID=TQ_BP_3

1

TQP13_PADID=TQ_BP_4

TQP13_HF_CAPID=C1C=12 pFW=175 um



TQP13_HF_RESWID=R2R=50 OhmW=20 umTYPE=NiCrSTAT=No StatisticsR_STAT=0R_TOL=0


1

2

3

TQP13_PHSS_T4mID=PHSSi4W=WfNG=2TQP13_PHSS_T4_MB=PHSS_T4

1

2

3


1

2

3


1

2

3



1

2

3


INDID=L2L=100 nH

INDID=L5L=LLd2 nH

INDID=L6L=LLd2 nH

INDID=L7L=LLd nH

INDID=L8L=LLd nH

INDID=L9L=LLd nH

INDID=L1L=LLg2 nH

INDID=L3L=LLg2 nH

INDID=L11L=LLg nH

INDID=L12L=LLg nH

INDID=L13L=LLg nH

PORTP=1Z=50 Ohm

PORTP=2Z=50 Ohm

Ld=0.3

Ld2 = Ld / 2

Wf=40

Lg=0.3

Lg2 = Lg / 2

W=10

L1d=102 L1g=80

L1d2=62 L1g2=71L2d2=78 L2g2=83

L2d=137 L2g=101

LLd2=0.235

LLd=0.595

LLg2=0.195

LLg=0.235

Figure 6. Schematic of an ideal distributed amplifier design.


28.4 mA

3 V

0 V

INDID=L10L=1000 nH

28.4 mA 3 V

INDID=L11L=1000 nH

0 mA

0 V


0 mA

0 V

1

2

3



7.11 mA

1

2

3



7.1 mA

1

2

3



7.09 mA


0.000119 mA


0 mA

1

TQP13_PADID=TQ_BP_1

1

TQP13_PADID=TQ_BP_2

0 mA

1

TQP13_PADID=TQ_BP_3

0 mA

1

TQP13_PADID=TQ_BP_4

0 mA


0 mA

2.93 V

0 V


0 mA

0 V

6.2e-6 V


0 mA

0 V



TQP13_HF_RESWID=R2R=50 OhmW=20 umTYPE=NiCrSTAT=No StatisticsR_STAT=0R_TOL=00.000119 mA

6.13e-6 V

1.42e-9 V


1.06 mA

2.95 V

TQP13_MRIND2ID=L1W=10 umS=10 umN=24LVS_IND="LVS_Value"

1

2

3


3e-5 mA

7.11 mA

7.11 mA

8.53e-5 V

1

2

3


2.97e-5 mA

7.1 mA

7.1 mA

8.52e-5 V

1

2

3


2.95e-5 mA

7.09 mA

7.09 mA

8.5e-5 V


21.3 mA

2.93 V

2.94 V


3e-5 mA

6.19e-6 V

6.2e-6 V


14.2 mA

2.93 V


5.97e-5 mA

6.18e-6 V


28.4 mA


0 mA2.93 V


0 mA


0.000119 mA6.16e-6 V


7.08 mA


8.92e-5 mA

1

2

3


2.94e-5 mA

7.08 mA

7.08 mA

8.5e-5 V


7.08 mA

1

2

3


TQP13_MRIND2ID=L3W=10 umS=10 umN=16L1=350 umL2=200 umLVS_IND="LVS_Value"

27.3 mA

INDID=L2L=1000 nH

PORTP=1Z=50 Ohm

0 mA

0 V

PORTP=2Z=50 Ohm

0 mA

0 V

Ld=0.3

Ld2 = Ld / 2

Wf=40

Lg=0.3

Lg2 = Lg / 2

W=10

L1d=102 L1g=80

L1d2=62 L1g2=71L2d2=78 L2g2=83

L2d=137 L2g=101

Figure 7. Schematic of the TriQuint element distributed amplifier design.

The layout of both distributed amplifiers on a 54x54 mil die is shown in figure 8. At the top of

the die is the DC to 30-GHz distributed amplifier and the bottom of the die is the 1 to 30 GHz

version.

6

Figure 8. Layout plot of the TriQuint element distributed amplifier designs on a 54x54 mil die.

3. Sonnet Simulations

Both designs are essentially identical except for the spiral inductor in the drain bias. Sonnet was

used to electromagnetically simulate the layout, which showed a potential stability problem at

higher frequency (~30 GHz) (figures 9 and 10). One concern is the relatively large decoupling

7

capacitor on the drain DC bias and its relatively close spacing to the spiral inductors of the drain

feed line. To improve the design, the 12-pF large capacitor was split into two 6-pF capacitors to

allow a shorter path to ground for the higher frequency operation while maintaining a 12-pF total

capacitance for the lower frequency operation. Also, the capacitor was moved further away from

the spiral inductors of the drain feed to reduce parasitic coupling. Lastly, 5-ohm resistors on the

drain were added in the simulation, which significantly reduced the previous stability problem

(~30 GHz) (figures 11 and 12). A modified layout with the stabilizing resistors and modified

capacitor is shown in figure 13 for the same 54x54 mil Die.

Figure 9. Sonnet electromagnetic (EM) layout plot of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier.

8

Figure 10. Sonnet EM simulation of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier with a 31-GHz stability

problem.

The current view of Sonnet can help give insight into the parasitic coupling of the actual layout.

At 2 GHz, the electric field strength around the two 6-pf capacitors is approximately symmetric

but at 30 GHz, the field is stronger for the left side of the first 6-pf capacitor, particularly at the

substrate via a ground connection. Propagation tends to take the shortest path, which led to the

premise that at higher frequencies the smaller 6-pf capacitor would be better than a much larger

12-pf capacitor. The larger 12-pf capacitor would also have a lower resonant frequency. Some

more simulations could be beneficial to determine a more optimal approach. Figures 14, and 15

show the field strength around the two 6-pf capacitors at 2 and 30 GHz using the current viewer

in Sonnet. Likewise, the original layout with a single 12-pf capacitor is shown in figures 16 and

17 for comparison.

9

Figure 11. Sonnet EM layout plot of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier “redo.”

Figure 12. Sonnet EM simulation of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier “redo” with improved stability.

10

Figure 13. Layout plot of the modified TriQuint element distributed amplifier designs (54x54 mil).

11

Figure 14. Sonnet EM current plot of the modified distributed amplifier at 30 GHz.

Figure 15. Sonnet EM current plot of the modified distributed amplifier at 2 GHz.

12

Figure 16. Sonnet EM current plot of the original distributed amplifier at 30 GHz.

Figure 17. Sonnet EM current plot of the original distributed amplifier at 2 GHz.

13

4. Testing

When the fabricated student designs were returned, unfortunately, the original distributed

amplifier designs were inadvertently submitted, rather than the modified designs. During testing,

both distributed amplifiers showed promise at lower bias voltages and at their nominal design

voltages, but appeared to be conditionally stable at certain intermediate voltages. These

oscillations appeared to be well above 45 GHz, but would disappear near the nominal design

voltages of 3 V (1–30 GHz) and 4 V (DC-30 GHz), and higher DC biases. Figure 14 shows a

plot of measured performance for the two designs, which differ only by the DC supply bypass

inductor. Noise figure and gain was measured at 4-V bias for the DC-30 GHz version, showing

slightly higher noise figure than expected, but decent, at 3 dB from 15 to 26 GHz (highest

frequency measured) (figure 18). Simulations of noise figure show a similar shape but were

expected to be better, closer to 2 dB (figure 19). Efficiency and output power versus input power

are plotted in figure 20 for the more efficient 1–30 GHz amplifier at 10 GHz showing a

respectable 20% power added efficiency (PAE) at 2-dB gain compression. The simulated

performance is reasonably similar as shown in figure 21. Likewise, the performance of the less

efficient DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier is shown in figure 22. Those measurements are also

very similar to the simulations shown in figure 23. A three-dimensional (3-D) view of the layout

of the distributed amplifier (1‒30 GHz) is shown in figure 24.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0.0 3.0 6.0 9.0 12.0 15.0 18.0 21.0 24.0 27.0

dB

Freq

Dist Amp 4VNFCorr

GainCorr

Figure 18. Noise figure and gain performance of the DC-30 GHz distributed amplifier design.

14

Figure 19. Simulated noise figure: distributed amplifier designs (red-1G+, black-DC+).

17.68

19.03

10.179.65

7.98

16.8

20.5

0

5

10

15

20

25

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Pin

DA1 10GHz Meas 114.5V ~43mA

Pout

Gain

PAE

Figure 20. Measured output power, gain, and efficiency performance of the 1‒30 GHz distributed

amplifier design at 10 GHz.

15

Figure 21. Simulated output power, gain, and efficiency performance of the 1‒30 GHz distributed


13.68

9.36

7.58

11.7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Pin

DA2 10GHz Meas 114V ~38mA

Pout

Gain

PAE

Figure 22. Measured output power, gain, and efficiency performance of the DC-30 GHz distributed


16

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Power (dBm)

Pcomp_DA_1G_DC

0

5

10

15

p3

p2

p1

5.93 dBm13.86 dBm

5.98 dBm11.96

5.99 dBm7.886 dB

DB(|Pcomp(PORT_2,1)|)[*,X] (dBm)Damp11_lay_mlin_PO.AP_HB

PAE(PORT_1,PORT_2)[*,X]Damp11_lay_mlin_PO.AP_HB

DB(PGain(PORT_1,PORT_2))[*,X]Damp11_lay_mlin_PO.AP_HB

p1: Freq = 10 GHz

p2: Freq = 10 GHz

p3: Freq = 10 GHz

Figure 23. Simulated output power, gain, and efficiency performance of the DC-30 GHz distributed


Figure 24. A 3-D view of the MMIC distributed amplifier layout (1 GHz+).

17

5. Conclusion

Both versions of the distributed amplifier worked well, with the 1–30 GHz version providing

higher output power and efficiency, while the DC-30 GHz version had gain below 1 GHz and

avoided the gain ripple from the resonance due to the DC bypass inductor. There appeared to be

some conditional stability concerns, which might make the design less robust over process

variation in repeat fabrications. Hopefully, there will be a future fabrication of the modified

designs to test for improved stability.

18

6. References

1. Ginzton, E. L.; Hewlett, W. R.; Jasberg, J. H.; Noe, J. D. Distributed Amplification. Proc.

IRE 1948, 956–69.

2. Penn, J. E. Designing MMIC Distributed Amplifiers. Microwaves & RF November 2007.

3. Penn, J. E. Convert Distributed MICs to MMICs. Microwaves & RF July 2003.

19

List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Acronyms

3-D three-dimensional

EM electromagnetic

EW electronic warfare

GaAs gallium arsenide

JHU Johns Hopkins University

MMIC monolithic microwave integrated circuit

PAE power added efficiency

PHEMTs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors

RF radio frequency

20

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8725 JOHN J KINGMAN RD

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1 DIRECTOR

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IMAL HRA

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