A broadband hybrid GaN cascode low noise amplifier for WiMax applications

This paper presents a design of a 3.5 GHz GaN Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) using Microstrip interconnect technology on a gold plated PCB and using packaged commercial GaN-on-SiC HEMTs. Cascode configuration with inter-stage matching and independent biasing networks was used. The whole design was fully implemented using Microstrip except for the capacitors and was optimized to reduce the noise figure (NF) and improve the gain and stability. The LNA provided a gain of 13.5 dB with a noise figure (NF) less than 3dB from 2.9 to 3.7 GHz with power consumption 2.92W.