High-speed pHEMT-based low noise amplifier for 2.4-GHz wireless communication

Omar S. Abdulwahid; Ahmad N. Abdulfattah; Saad G. Muttlak; Mohammadreza Sadeghi; Mohamed Missous

doi:10.1016/j.jnlest.2025.100338

Journal of Electronic Science and Technology ›› 2025, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (4) :100338 DOI: 10.1016/j.jnlest.2025.100338

research-article

High-speed pHEMT-based low noise amplifier for 2.4-GHz wireless communication

Author information +

^a Department of Mechatronics Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Mosul, Mosul, 41002, Iraq

^b Department of Computer Networks and Internet, College of Information Technology, Ninevah University, Mosul, 41002, Iraq

^c Department of Electrical Engineering, Tikrit University, Tikrit, 34001, Iraq

^d Advanced Hall Sensors Ltd., Manchester, M17 1RW, UK

^e School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

^* E-mail addresses: omar.abdulwahid@uomosul.edu.iq (O.S. Abdulwahid),

ahmad.dabbagh@uoninevah.edu.iq (A.N. Abdulfattah),

Saad.g.mutlak@tu.edu.iq (S.G. Muttlak),

mohammadreza.sadeghi@ahsltd.com (M. Sadeghi),

m.missous@manchester.edu.uk (M. Missous).

Omar S. Abdulwahid obtained the B.S. degree in electronics engineering and the M.S. degree in electronic and communication engineering from University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq in 2010 and 2013, respectively. He achieved the Ph.D. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK in 2019, during which he focused on the modeling, design, and fabrication of millimeter-wave and sub-millimeter-wave zero-bias detectors and mixers based asymmetric spacer tunnel diode (ASPAT). He is currently working as a lecturer with the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, University of Mosul. His research interest mainly focuses on the physical modeling of the high-speed positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) photodetector and avalanche photodetector (APD) for the upcoming fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and high-speed rack-to-rack communications systems.

Ahmad N. Abdulfattah received the B.S. degree in computer engineering from Technical College of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq in 2006 and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering with a specialization in electronics and telecommunication from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia in 2010. During 2010–2015, he worked as an assistant lecturer at the Communication and Computer Engineering Department, Cihan University, Erbil, Iraq. In 2019, he obtained the Ph.D. degree in communication and electronics from Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK. He is currently working as a lecturer at the Department of Computer Networks and Internet, Ninevah University, Mosul, Iraq. His research interests include implantable medical devices, ultra-low-power transceivers, biomedical sensors, and energy harvesting systems.

Saad G. Muttlak received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Tikrit University, Tikrit, Iraq in 2003 and the M.S. degree in electronics and communications from University of Mosul in 2012, followed by working as a lecturer at Tikrit University for two years. Then, he obtained the Ph.D. degree from The University of Manchester in 2020. He is currently working as a lecturer at Tikrit University. He has authored and co-authored over 20 papers in both refereed journals and conference proceedings. His research interests mainly include modeling and measurements of high-frequency front-end amplifier monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), millimeter-wave/terahertz regime emitters/detectors, optoelectronic integrated-circuit receivers for >10 Gb/s data rate communication systems, and miniaturized rectenna design for biomedical and industrial applications.

Mohammadreza Sadeghi received the B.E. (Hons.) degree in electronics and computer engineering from University of Bolton, Bolton, UK in 2009. He received the Ph.D. degree from The University of Manchester in 2015. He is currently working with Advanced Hall Sensors Ltd., Manchester, UK, with extensive experience in sub-micrometer high-frequency integrated-circuit fabrication processes. His research interests include advanced nanoTesla III-V two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) quantum well Hall effect integrated circuits, pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistors (pHEMTs), and analogue circuits design and measurements.

Mohamed Missous obtained the Ph.D. degree from The University of Manchester in 1988. He is currently working as a professor in semiconductor materials and devices at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Manchester. His research interest mainly focuses on the growth of complex multi-layer semiconductor films by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). He has established a large MBE and compound semiconductor laboratory for materials growth, assessment equipment, compound semiconductor processing facility, and device testing. Over the years, he has concentrated, with considerable success, on establishing practical approaches and techniques required to meet stringent doping and thickness control. With sub-monolayer accuracy, a variety of advanced quantum devices have been realized, such as mid-infrared quantum-well photodetectors operating at room temperature and nanoTesla magnetic imager based on ultra-sensitive 2DEG. Together with Prof. Mike Kelly, he was awarded the 2015 Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for manufacturability of tunnel devices. He is the Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), the Institute of Physics (FInstP), and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET).

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Abstract

In the era of rapidly expanding wireless technologies, the push for larger spectrum efficiency and better signal integrity has intensified the need for high-efficient and low noise amplifiers (LNAs). A two-stage LNA based on the GaAs/InGaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) with a relatively large gate length of 2 μm is designed for high-performance 2.4-GHz wireless communication. The I-V characteristic and two-port high-frequency S-parameter of the transistor are measured by on-wafer probing techniques. The results indicate that a discrete transistor with a gate size of 2 μm × 50 μm can provide a maximum transconductance of 16 mS, corresponding to a maximum current-gain cut-off frequency of 7 GHz and maximum oscillation frequency of 8 GHz at the 1-V drain-source voltage. With the impedance matching networks based transmission line technique, an extended integrated layout structure is designed and simulated by using the momentum simulation tool embedded in Advanced Design System, to alleviate the trade-off between noise figure (NF) and gain of the circuit. The findings show that the transistor based on the GaAs/InGaAs technology is capable of delivering high performance with power consumption low to 16 mW, where the maximum simulated gain of 21.5 dB and minimum NF of 2.4 dB are achieved. In terms of linearity, the proposed LNA provides terrific output 1-dB compression of −3 dBm and output third-order intercept point values of 10 dBm. The bandwidth of 0.12 GHz and figure-of-merit of 12 are obtained, which are comparable to that of existing LNAs based on pHEMT. Such a device may benefit to accelerate the development of more robust and power-efficient front-end modules in modern wireless systems, especially for advancing performance-driven applications.

Keywords

Low noise amplifier / Noise figure / pHEMT characterization / Transistor modeling / Wireless communication

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Omar S. Abdulwahid, Ahmad N. Abdulfattah, Saad G. Muttlak, Mohammadreza Sadeghi, Mohamed Missous. High-speed pHEMT-based low noise amplifier for 2.4-GHz wireless communication. Journal of Electronic Science and Technology, 2025, 23(4): 100338 DOI:10.1016/j.jnlest.2025.100338

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