Introduction to Microwave Amplifier Design

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In this session will look at a simple way of designing an amplifier for maximum gain. This will primarily involve ELEC-483 Wiki
designing appropriate matching networks at the input and output of the transistor. Later we will consider how to design ELEC-483 Information
an amplifier to have low noise ELEC-483 Notes
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Contents ELEC-483 Assignments
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1 Motivation and Objectives

2 Important Properties of Amplifiers

3 Small signal microwave amplifiers

4 Two port power gain

4.1 Available power gain

4.2 Operating power gain

4.3 Transducer Power Gain

4.3.1 Unilateral transducer gain

5 Amplifier design using power gain

6 Finding Stability (i.e. Will this amplifier oscillate instead!)

6.1 Conditions for Stability

6.2 Parameters to determine unconditional stability

6.3 Stability Circles

6.4 Example - Determining stability of transistor

6.5 Stability in Multi-stage amplifiers

7 Stabilizing a Transistor

Motivation and Objectives

Amplifiers are used to increase the voltage, current, and/or power of a signal, and are used in most in both transmitters and receivers. They are
generally the easiest building block to analyze using small signal models, so we will look at this block first.

The objectives of this section are:

to understand power definitions for microwave amplifiers

to understand how to assess the stability of a microwave amplifier

to learn how to stabilize an amplifier

Important Properties of Amplifiers

Amplifiers play a critical role in a communication system.

Low noise amplifiers are used at the front end of receivers. They are usually approximated as small signal devices, and are usually tuned
(i.e. they use networks at their input and output to provide a match and gain over a relatively narrow bandwidth).

Power amplifiers are used at the output of transmitters. They provide a high output power, and so can't be approximated as small signal.
They are designed using different techniques than small signal amplifiers.

Important properties of amplifiers include:

Gain, input impedance, and output impedance, measured using S-parameters.

Noise figure

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Stability (we don't want an amplifier oscillating!)

Bias networks

Interface with other circuits (ports)

When designing a linear narrowband amplifier, the goal is usually to produce a

design that is well matched at the design frequency, and has a good gain and
low noise at that frequency, as shown on the right.

Small signal microwave amplifiers

Linear (small
signal)
amplifiers
Simulated S-parameters and noise of an amplifier.
require a
transistor
operating as a
linear element
(active mode
for BJT,
saturation for Small signal model of a MOSFET.
FET). In linear
mode, we can
model a transistor using a small signal model, e.g. the simplified MOSFET small signal model on the right, which we can use to calculate the
amplifier's performance. At high frequencies these models become complex as more parasitic elements are added (e.g. substrate resistance,
distributed channel effects). Producing a small signal model requires making measurements on a transistor, and fitting the element values (i.e.
Rg, Cgs, etc.) to make the model fit the measured data.

In many cases, it is more accurate and simpler to use S-parameters to design an amplifier, rather than use a small signal model. The limitation of
doing this is that S-parameters are a function of bias condition, so the results from using a set of S-parameters are only valid at the bias
conditions at which the S-parameters were measured or simulated.

Question for thought: How simple would it be to calculate the gain of a common source amplifier using the model on the right?

Two port power gain

When we work with amplifiers, we assume that the amplifier is driven by a source with a particular impedance, and that its output is connected
to a load with a particular impedance, as shown below.

We design microwave amplifiers using power gains.

We describe the gain of amplifiers in terms of power. However, there are three ways of defining this gain:

Available power gain

Defined to be

Available power gain = GA = Pavn / Pavs

This is the ratio of the power available from the two port network to the port available from the source, i.e. the power transferred if we have an
ideal match at both the input and output.

This is commonly used for LNA design, as it is a function of the source impedance, but not the load impedance. We will see later that the noise
properties of an amplifier are a function of the source impedance, but not the load impedance.

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Operating power gain

Operating power gain, or power gain, is defined to be

Power gain = G = PL / Pin

It is the ratio of power dissipated in the load ZL to the power delivered to the input of the network, making it independent of the source
impedance Zs. It is often used for power amplifier design, where load impedance is critical.

Transducer Power Gain

Transducer Power gain is:

Transducer power gain = GT = PL / Pavs

It gives the ratio of the power delivered to the load to the power available from the source. This depends on both ZL and Zs, and is often used to
design amplifiers that have the maximum small signal gain.

Using the definitions, we can find that the transducer power gain of an amplifier is:

This is a function of the input reflection coefficient Γin looking into the terminated transistor, which is a function of the transistor S-parameters
and the load impedance. We can find Γin for a general two port network as follows:

, , and we relate the a's and b's using the S-parameter definitions

Solving these gives

Similarly,

See the complete derivation for more detail.

The definitions of the various reflection coefficients around a microwave

amplifier.

We can break the transducer power gain expression into three subexpressions:

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 is the gain due to the ΓS and Γin.

Go = | S21 | 2 is the intrinsic gain of the amplifier, and would equal the transducer power gain if both ΓS and ΓL were zero (i.e. matched loads).

is the change in the gain due to the output load ΓL

Note that the transducer gain GT is a function of G1D, which is a function of both ΓS and Γin, and that Γin is a function of Γout. The end result is a
fairly complex equation that is not easily solved by hand. However, in some conditions we can make an approximation that simplifies the
situation considerably - the assumption that we have a unilateral transistor.

Unilateral transducer gain

Sometimes we can approximate a transistor as being unilateral, i.e. there is no reverse transmission, and S12 = 0. If we put S12 = 0 in our
expression for Γin, we get Γin = S11. This yields the unilateral transducer power gain of

where

is a function of the source impedance

Go = | S21 | 2

is a function of the load impedance

Note that this is an approximation, as all transistors will have some reverse transmission. However, this can be useful for initial design, as it
removes the effect of the load impedance on the source side.

Amplifier design using power gain

We design amplifiers by selecting appropriate source and load terminations to achieve the required gains. The maximum gain we can achieve
from an amplifier is when we conjugately match the input and output, i.e. by selecting and . Since there are two
degrees of freedom, ΓS and ΓL, there are muliple sets of ΓS and ΓL that will result in any gain less than the maximum.

Generally, a simple small-signal microwave amplifier design proceeds as follows:

Bias conditions are first picked for gain, linearity, noise, etc.

Biasing sets small signal S-parameters; e.g. for a MOSFET
, and , so

We find out if certain source and load impedances can cause the
amplifier to oscillate (coming up next)

Once that is done, we can design matching networks to select Γs and ΓL
that will transform the source and load to impedances that will provide
We design matching networks at the input and output of an the gain we want. Later on we will look at how their selection affects
amplifier. noise

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Finding Stability (i.e. Will this amplifier oscillate instead!)

At high frequencies, the parasitic capacitances like Cdg can interact with the
source and load impedances, producing positive feedback at certain
frequencies, resulting in oscillation, or instability. We need to find out what
source and load impedances can cause the amplifier to oscillate.

Instability occurs when | ΓinΓS | > 1 or when | ΓoutΓL | > 1 due to small signals
gaining power as they bounce back and forth.
Caption

We can see how oscillations start by assuming that a small signal vo (could be noise, or from the source) shown below propagates towards the
input of the transistor (shown in dark blue).

vo will reflect at the input of the transistor, and

propagate back toward source with a voltage of voΓin
(green). The signal will then reflect at source, and
propagate back toward transistor with a voltage of
voΓinΓS (red).

This repeats indefinitely, and after n round trips the

Reflections at the input (or output) are the cause of instability in an amplifier.
voltage will have a value of vo(ΓinΓS)n. The only
way to ensure that the signal does not grow to
infinity is to ensure that | ΓinΓS | < 1 ( and that |
ΓoutΓL | < 1, since the same analysis could be
applied to the output)

Conditions for Stability

We will assume that our terminations always have a positive real

impedance, so | ΓS | < 1 and | ΓL | < 1

With this assumption, to ensure that | ΓinΓS | < 1 and | ΓoutΓL | < 1, we
simply need to ensure that | Γin | < 1 and | Γout | < 1.

We often need amplifiers to be unconditionally stable, which means that
they will be stable for all values of | ΓS | < 1 and | ΓL | < 1.

The conditions for unconditional stability are then:
Caption
| Γs | < 1

| ΓL | < 1

Parameters to determine unconditional stability

A single parameter can be used to determine whether a transistor

is unconditionally stable (i.e. if it will not oscillate for any non-
negative source and load impedances).

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(Note that denotes the complex conjugate of S11, i.e.
).

When µ > 1, the device is unconditionally stable; i.e. there is no ΓS or

ΓL that will cause the device to oscillate as long as their magnitudes are
less than unity. A larger µ means greater stability. If µ < 1, the device
will oscillate for some values of ΓS or ΓL.

A related parameter µ' can also be used, it is always bigger than one
when µ is, so it doesn't give new information for the purpose of Plot of mu and mu' for a particular transistor. Note that this transistor is
determining unconditional stability. unconditionally stable at frequencies above 25 GHz.

ADS refers to these parameters as mu and muprime. The text by

Gilmore uses the symbols µ1 and µ2 instead.

An older pair of parameters used to test for stability is:

| ∆ | = | S11S22 − S12S21 | < 1

But what if the device is not unconditionally stable? We can use a graphical method to find out what values of ΓL and ΓS could make the
transistor oscillate.

Stability Circles

We can use a graphical method to determine which terminations ΓS and

ΓL may produce instability by setting | Γin | > 1 and/or | Γout | > 1

Find the values of ΓS and ΓL that set

, and

Caption

Solutions to those two equations give circles in the Γs and ΓL planes, where the circles represent values of Γs (or ΓL) that set | Γout | (or |
Γin | ) equal to one

Circles are usually expressed as

Load stability circle Source stability circle

ΓL values for | Γin | = 1 Γs values for | Γout | = 1

Circle radius

Circle centre point

where rx is the radius of the load or source stability circle, and Cx is the center of the load or source stability circle. ∆ is the same as the stability
parameter used above, ∆ = S11S22 − S12S21.

These are plotted on a Smith chart

If we pick the Γ anywhere in the stable region of the circles the device
will be stable

The equation for the circle doesn't tell us whether the stable region is the inside of the circle stable, or outside the circle. It is easiest to

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 determine this using a test point.

Let's look at the source stability circle - the same procedure applies for
the load stability circle

Simplest point is Γs = 0 (the centre of the Smith chart)

If we plug Γs = 0 into

we get Γout = S22, meaning that under this condition | Γout | < 1 if | S22 | < 1,
which means the centre of the Smith chart is stable for Γs

Rule: Centre of the Smith chart is in the stable region for Γs (ΓL) if |
S22 | < 1 ( | S11 | < 1)

Example - Determining stability of transistor Source and load stability circles are used to determine the
terminating impedances that result in a stable amplifier.

A certain transitor at a particular bias condition and frequency has S-
parameters given by
. Find source and load
reflection coefficients that will result in a stable amplifier.

We first determine whether the transistor is unconditionally stable. The simplest method is

- Potentially unstable

Aside: the physical meaning of µ is the distance from the unstable region of the source stability circle to the center of the Smith chart. Any
value of µ>1 puts the unstable region outside the Smith chart, making the transistor unconditionally stable. The larger µ is at a particular
frequency, the more stable the transistor is at that frequency.

An alternate method is to calculate:

| ∆ | = | S11S22 − S12S21 | = 0.221 < 1 - OK

- Potentially unstable

Using either the µ or the K − ∆ test we see the device is potentially unstable, so there are some values of ΓS and ΓL that lead to instability.
To find which do, we need to find the stability circles

ΓL values for | Γin | = 1 Γs values for | Γout | = 1

The circles with these centre and radii are plotted below.

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 Source and load stability circles for the example above.

Reminder: the outside of the Smith chart corresponds to a reflection coefficient magnitude of unity. Any value of CL or CS that is greater than
unity in magnitude will fall outside the Smith chart.

Since | S22 | < 1 and | S11 | < 1, the centre of the Smith chart is stable for both ΓL and ΓS

Since neither circle circles the centre of the Smith chart, the insides of the circles is the unstable region, and the outside of the circles is
the stable region. (Note: Gilmore calls the terminations that result in instability unfriendly terminations, and those that result in stabililty
friendly terminations.)

These circles tell us that any value of ΓL outside of the load stability circle (green) will result in stability, and any value of ΓS
outside of the source stability circle (blue) will result in stability.

Stability in Multi-stage amplifiers

It is important to select the impedances carefully between stages of a multi-stage amplifier.

When two separate amplifiers are combined into a multi-stage amplifier, we must be very careful to ensure that the resulting amplifier is stable.
Provided that both stages are unconditionally stable over the entire frequency range, the multi-stage amplifier will be stable as well. If one or
more of the stages is not unconditionally stable, care must be taken when designing the matching between stages.

One approach is to design Γout1 and Γin2 to both be the system impedance (usually 50 Ω), and ensure that both are stable for that impedance.
Another option is to allow Γout1 and Γin2 to take on any value such that , resulting in optimum power match. This requires that
Γout1 must be in the stable region for the source stability circle of stage 2, and that Γin2 be in the stable region of the load stability circle for stage
1.

One method of simulating oscillation between stages is in A New, Cost Effective, 4-Gamma Method for Evaluating Multi-Stage Amplifier
Stability, K. Wang et al., MTT-S Digest, 1992.

Stabilizing a Transistor
When high-gain microwave transistors are used at frequencies well below their cutoff frequency, they may be extremely unstable, i.e. their stable

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region on the Smith chart may be very small. This can make the design very difficult, and result in a signficant proportion of fabricated
amplifiers that will oscillate due to process variations.

We would like to be able to stabilize a transistor. This generally involves reducing the gain of a transistor in exchange for an improvement in
stability. The simplest approach to stabilizing the input is to add a series or shunt resistor to the input, as shown below. This will result in
stabilizing the output as well. If noise is an important consideration, it is better to stabilize at the output instead. For example, we can stabilize
the source network by adding an appropriately sized resistor in series or shunt with the transistor. As shown below, a series resistor is picked by
determining the resistance circle that is tangential to the source stability circle at either the input or output.

The input and output of a transistor can be stabilized using a series resistor at input or output (left), or shunt resistor (right), selected
by finding the resistance or conductance circle that is tangential to the stability circle. A shunt resistor cannot be used if the stability
circle passes through the short circuit point, as is the case for the source matching network (blue).

A shunt resistor cannot be used if the stability circle passes through the short circuit point, as is the case for the source matching network.
Similarly a series resistor cannot be used if the stability circle passes through the open circuit point.

Resistive or reactive feedback can also be used to stabilize a transistor, but this will also modify the device S-parameters, so its selection is not as
simple.

Stability factors of the NE3503M04 transistor.

A frequency selective stabilizing network like this parallel RC network
stabilizes at low frequencies, where stability is often a problem, while not
significantly deteriorating gain at higher frequencies.

We can stabilize a transistor over a narrower range of frequencies by using a RL or RC circuit; e.g. if a capacitor was placed in parallel with the
resistor at the input of the circuit above, it would stabilize the transistors at low frequencies where the capacitor has little effect, and where
stabilization is often needed, but would have little impact on the gain or stability of the circuit at higher frequencies.

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With this background in amplifiers, we are ready to start Microwave Amplifier Design for Maximum Gain.

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