W-Band GaN T/R Single Chip With 1-W Output Power and 6.4-dB Noise Figure for AESA Applications

This article presents a W-band integrated transceiver (T/R) single chip based on gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology for active electronically scanned array (AESA) applications. It integrates low-noise receiving, high-power transmitting, and transmit (Tx)-receive (Rx) switching functionalities in a single chip. In the transmitting mode, from 100 to 110 GHz, the measured output power and power added efficiency (PAE) are greater than 1 W and 6.4%, respectively, and the saturation gain is higher than 10 dB. While in the receiving mode, the measured noise figure (NF) is less than 6.5 dB, and the small signal gain is more than 20 dB. The measured switching time between the receiving and transmitting modes is less than 17.6 ns. The T/R single chip occupies an area of 4.8 × 3.9 mm2. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first GaN-integrated transceiver chip operating at more than 100 GHz.