Miniature Microwave

Amplifiers

The authors show that meander line inductorsproduce a small size, single bias
voltage amplifier design at S-band.

Eric A. Craig
I
n the design of small, low-power amplifiers at
General Electric Company S-band, a significant reduction in size can be
achieved by the use of “quasi-lumped” ele-
Astro- Space Division ments as the circuit elements of the matching and
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania feedback networks. A description of the design, us-
ing thc NEC67383 transistor, is presented. This
John E. Mulholland transistor was selected because it is hermetically
Villanova University packaged, is space qualified, has broad gain band-
Department of Electrical Engineering width and is extensively used for military and space-
Villanova, Pennsylvania borne applications.
The matching networks arc designed using high
impedance meander lines as “quasi 1umped”induc-
tive elements on a 15 mil. thick alumina substrate.
The direct current continuity of the inductive
matching allows a single +5Vdc bias and their
compactness permits an overall size that is approxi-
mately one-third that of S-band amplifiers using
conventional microstrip techniques. In a one-stage
design, the transistor is mounted bctwccn the
matching network substrates by bonding the source
leads to by-pass capacitors in a common source,
self-bias configuration.
The alumina substrate was chosen because of its
high dielectric constant and suitability for compo-
nent bonding. The 15 mil. thickness affords smaller

82 APPI,IEI) hlICROWAVE Spring 1992

microstrip transmission line widths for a given char-
acteristic impedance, yet not so small that etching
tolerances would be impractical.
Once thc single stage unit is designed and its S
parameters characterized for a specific bandwidth,
cascading two or three stages for increased gain is
easily accomplished. It is important to optimize the
single stage for the desired gain (S21) and input and
output return loss (S11 and S22 respectively) so
that they have values of at least 10dB, so that good
isolation and low interaction between gain stages is
realized.
In a single stage or cascaded amplifier, a stability
analysis at each active and passive interface must be
performed to insure stability. If an unstable region
is found (a condition for which the amplifier oscil-
lates on its own) during the analysis, series or shunt Figure 2. Smith Chart Matching - Single Stage.
resistive loading on the gate and drain of one or
more stages may be necessary. Such resistive load-
ing achieves stability at the expense of gain. For this The matching networks transform the input and
reason, it is good to design the prototype gain stage output impedances of the amplifier stage to 50
to have more than the minimum required gain, so ohms, and establish the desired amplifier gain cir-
that some gain can be sacrificed when necessary for cle. In the first design, required series and shunt
stability. If too much gain is available, it is easily inductor elements were between 0.1- nanohenries,
reduced through attenuation at the input or output. values which can be realized by short strip or ribbon
lengths of microstrip linc. When realized as lumped
Design qf the Lumped Inductors elements, it is important to keep in mind that
The design of the matching elements is governed lumped element models of resistors, capacitors and
by the single bias topology of the S-band amplifiers inductors do not allow for any spatial variations of
as shown in Figure 1. Since inductors pass both dc voltage and current. That is, lumped element mod-
and ac signals, a convenient input/output matching els are valid when the circuit is operated at wave-
network is composed of a seriesishunt inductor con- lengths much larger than the dimensions of the cir-
figuration. cuit elements.

DC BLOCK NEC67383

RFlN -
4 I-< RF OUT The "lumped element design presupposes that
"

the elements are smaller than 1/10 wavelength.

FOR DC GROUND
AND STABILITY RF BYPASS Accordingly, a microstrip line "lumped inductor"
CAPACITOR
DC BIAS must necessarily be small (less than a tenth) of the
RESISTOR
operating wavelength. At S band the operating
Figure 1. S-band amplifier circuit topology. wavelength is 3 inches in air and about 1 inch in the
effcctive dielectric of an alumina substrate micro-
strip line. Meander line inductors up to 100 mils in
Initially, the amplifier matching nctworks were length would meet the lumped element criterion,
modeled with lumped inductances. The S param- and it will be seen that this is sufficient for the
eters (S11 and S22) of the transistors were located inductors needed for the S band amplifier match-
on the Smith Chart, as shown in Figure 2, from ing.
which the series/shunt matching networks using in- To realize inductors as short lengths of TEM
ductors were designed. mode (two wire line, not waveguide) transmission

APPLIED MICROWAVE Spring 1992 83

line consider that the input impedance of a trans-
mission line terminated by a load ZL is given by:
Eq. 1.
This formula neglects losses in the transmission
line itself, a reasonable assumption for thc short
line lengths considered in this application. This
equation reduces to that of Equation 2 when the
line terminating impedance is a short circuit (ZL =
0).
Eq. 2.
z = z,pl = (jfdL)l.
in
Note that t h e input and output matching net-
works of the S band amplifiers are composed of
small sections o f transmission line terminated in
short circuits. A lumped inductance is realized
using a metallic strip according to Equation 2. A
straight section (non spiral) of ribbon in air may
produce inductances on the order of 2-3 nano-
henries. Caulton, et al. [2,3 and 41 has produced
excellent approximations of lumped elements in
microwave circuits for the inductance of a micro-
strip transmission line as above. A closed form ex-
pression for a ribbon in air is given by Equation 3.
Using a conductor of width, w = 3 mil, length, 1 =
100 mil and thickness, t = 0.15 mil (typical for a
microstrip line inductor) the computed inductance
is 2.37nH.
Eq. 3.
LP ( n H ) = c5.08 x 10-3]P{P~i--F-
+ 1.193 + 0.2235
Even though the ribbon may be mounted on an
alumina wbstrate the result is approximately the
same bccause there is little electric field near the
short circuit and therefore little stored cncrgy dif-
ference compared to the air case. Moreover, the
dielectric docs not influence the magnetic fields
surrounding the conductor strip.
Lumped element inductances are fabricated on
dielectrics as are distributed elements. The differ-
ence is that for lumped elements the substrate is
used only to provide mechanical support for the
elcrnents and its dielectric constant does not influ-
ence, to a first order approximation, the value of
the lumped component. That is, the energy of the
circuit flows through or is stored in the lumped
element and not in the substrate, as would be true
for spatially distributed circuit clernents. Notwith-
standing this approximation, it is good practice to
use a low loss dielectric substrate, as alumina, be-
cause fringing fields do exist and could account for
added insertion loss were a lossy substrate em-
ployed.
The design CUH be described in terms qfjust 4
steps.
The design of the S band amplifier matching net-
works was performed in four steps. The first step
was to plot the vendor supplicd ,511and S22 param-
eters of transistor for the center frequency of the
amplifier.
The second step was to match these S parameters
to 50 ohms. This was done using the series/shunt
inductor configuration on both the drain and gatc.
As noted earlier, this allows biasing the transistor
through the matching network. The reactance and
susceptancc values required to transform the S pa-
rameters of the transistor to 50 ohms are deter-
mined using the Smith Chart. The inductance re-
quircd is determined from these values using
Equation 4.
Eq. 4.
where w = strip width
P = strip length
t = strip thickness
- all dimensions in mils.
l/wlY, = B/Yo and wPZ, = XZ,,
in which X and B are the reactance and susceptance
values rcspcctively, omega is the radian center fre-
quency of the amplifier and Zo is the characteristic
impedance of the line used to realize the lumped
circuit inductance, indicated as a lower case 1.
The third step is to use Equation 3 to determine
the length of this inductance given the thickness
and width of the conductor chosen. The typical alu-
mina conductor thickness is 150 microinches or 0.15
mil. The width of the strip, w, was chosen (not
arbitrarily) to be 3 mils for all matching networks.
The basis for this width selection is as follows.
Equation 3 gives the inductance of a ribbon in air
away from a ground plane. The presence of a
ground plane causes the inductance to decrease as
the ground plane is brought nearer [5]. The de-
crease has been determined by Chaddock [6].
The Chaddock correction factor converts the
ribbon-in-air inductance calculation to a
(lower) ribbon-above-a-ground-plane value.
The inductance in the presence of a ground plane
is expressed by Equation 5 , in which LF is the free
space ribbon inductance. The Chaddock correction
factor, Kg, is given by Equation 6.
Ey. 5
Eq. 6
K g = 0.57-0.145 ln(w/h),
( a l l values in m i l s . )
in which w is the width of the conductor and h is the
substrate thickness. For a substrate of h = 15 mils
and w = 3 mils, the factor Kg = 0.8. Multiplying
this by the ribbon inductance calculated for a rib-
bon in air (infinitely removed from the ground
plane) of 2.37nH gives the ground plane corrected
value of 1.90nH, a value typical of that needed for
the S band matching networks. Larger values of
inductance for a strip a given distance above a
ground plane are obtained as the strip width, w, is
reduced. The 3 mil width was a compromise that
allowed enough inductance per unit length to be
obtained without necessitating impractical etching
tolerances that would be encountered with a nar-
rower width.
The fourth step in the design is to convert the
lumped inductance values to microstrip dimen-
sions. This was performed using EEsof's program,
TOUCHSTONE/LIBRA [TM], [7],by inputting
the width, w, conductor thickness, t, substrate
height, h, and conductor length, 1, into the micro-
strip element models. With this step completed,
since the S I1 and S22 had been initially matched
for maximum gain (i.e. matched to 50 ohms), the
amplifier gain was optimized using the LIBRA rou-
tine, The resulting design layout is shown in Figure
33pF SOURCE
RAIL CAP 1 RESISTOR
BIAS NETWORK
pi INCH?
lODOpF
CAP
100
OHM
RESISTOR
Figure 3. Layout of the single stage amplifier following
circuit optimization.
Test Results
The predicted and experimental plots of the S
band amplifiers designed using this procedure are
shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6 respectively for single
stage, two stage and three stage amplifiers. The two
stage data shown in Figure 5 are obtained with a
4dB pad at the input to lower input power. Gain is
correspondingly lowered.
Predicted and measured results are in quite
good agreement.
 ""
3.5 FREQUENCY (GHz)
. . 4.5
7. Photograph of the single stage amplifier.
Figure 4. Predicted and measured single stage amplifier
performance.

Szi (dBm) Sn (dBm)

2.0 FREQUENCY (GHz) 4.0

5. Predicted and measured two stage amplifier perform-

ance. A 4dB pad is used at the input of this amplifier for
these measurements. 8. Photograph of the two stage design.

Szi (dBm) S i i (dBm)

24
__ +5

16 -35
20 FREQUENCY (GHr) 60

6. Predicted and measured three stage

- amplifier perform-
ance. 9. Photograph of the three stage design.

86 APPLIED MICROWAVE Spring 1992

 The data in these figures reveal that the comput-
er modeled performance for the amplifiers well
represents the actual data obtained by measurc-
ment over the operating frcqucncy band.
Thc one stage S band computer design recently
was updated to include the effects of a small capaci-
tance from gate to drain, which better brought the
prcdictcd and measured values for S parameters
into agreement.
The fact that inductorspass dc as well as ac
currents allows for a single bias amplifier
design.
In future efforts it is planned to design a fixture
to facilitate T R L measurements to be performed
for a better characterization of the mounted pack-
aged transistor. Alternatively, use of an unpack-
aged transistor chip would afford a design unfet-
tered by package parasitics.
Rgferences
1. Edwards, T.C., Foundations for Microstrip Circuit Dcsign,
Wiley Chichcstcr, 1981.
2. Caulton, Martin, “Status of Lumped Elcmcnts in Micro-
wave Integrated Circuits - Present and Futurc”. IEEE
Trans. Microwavc Theory and Tech. Vol. MTT-19, No. 7,
July 1971, PgS. 588-599.
3. Bahl, Inder and Prakash Bhartia, Microwave Solid State
Circuit Design, Wiley, 1988.
4. Pcttcnpaul, Ewald, “Cad Models of Lumped Elements on
GaAs up to 18 Ghz”, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory and
Tech., Vol. M n - 3 6 , No. 2, Fcbruary 1988, pgs. 294-303.
5. Gopinath, A,, and P. Silvester, “Calculations of Inductancc
of Finite- Lcngth Strips and its Variations with Frcqucncy”,
IEEE Trans. Microwavc Theory Tech., Vo. MTT-21, 1973,
pp. 380-386.
6. Chaddock, R. E., “The Application of Lumpcd Elcment
Techniques to High Frequency Hybrid Intcgratcd Circuits”,
Radio and Electronics Engg. (GR), Vol. 44, 1974, pp. 414-
420.
7. EEsOF, Libra Reference manual 1987-1990, Versions 1 .0 &
3.0.
Eric A. Craig received the BSLX de-
gree in 1987from Villanova University
in Villanova, PA. Upon graduating he
joined Raytheon Company as un as-
sociate member of the technical stu.8
in the Radar Systems Laboratories,
receiver department. At Raytheon he
designed receiver-exciter hardware for
ground based radar systems.
In 1989 he joined G E Aerospace in
Camden, NJ, designing UHF receivers
andphase-lock loop hardware for the
Space Station Freedom Program. He
currently is a hardware design engi-
neer in ihe Astrospuce Division in Val-
ley Forge, PA, designing microwave
amplifiers, phase shifter~s,mult@lier.s and phase-locked DRO k.
While at Raytheon Company, he begun studies toward the
MSEE degree and completed studies both at Tuft’s and Northeas-
tern Universities in Massachu.setts. He plans to complete this dc-
gree at Villanova University in May of 1992.
John E. Mulholland received the
BEE. degreefrom Villanova Universi-
ty in 1960, the MSEE degree from
Llre*-elInstitute of Technology in 196.5,
and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical En-
gineeringfrom the University ofPenn-
sylvania in 1969.
In 198.7, he joined the,fiiculty of the
Ikpartment of Electrical Engineering
at Villanova Univer,sityto develop the
microwave engineering technology
area for both education and research.
Before joining Villanova University,
he was with the General Electric
Space Division as Manager of the
Communication Equipment and An-
tenna Engineering Laboratories. His ussignmeiits have included
the development of microwave filter analytical techniques and the
design ofwaveguide and directionalfi1ter.yin Ku and Xbands and
the dcvelopment of automated RF measurement techniques for
cornponenls and systems. He has provided Lxpert testimony on
radiation monitors for microwave ovens before the Bureau of
Radiological Health as a consultant t o ihe General Electric Appli-
ance Group. More recently he has led the dcvelopment of the
interface definition ofthe command and control segment with the
microwave transmission segment of a major militaly satellite data
communications system.
Prior to joining General Electric he provided consultation in
radar clu t tel; multiputh,propagation efects and radiation hazards
at the RCA Missile & Suface Radar Division. He also provided
analytical support on the AN SI’Y-I radar in the ureas of untenna
matching, random materials, rnonopulse tracking collimation and
alignment, and sidelobe blanking.
I3l: Mulholland i.s a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylva-
nia, past chairman of the Antenna PropagationlMic,rowave The-
ory and Techniques (AP MTT) Society, Philadelphia Section of
IEEE.
. A P P I . I K I IMICROWAVE Spring 1992 87