MMIC and RFIC Solutions for Modern Radio Astronomy

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dc.contributor.authorSeyfollahi, Alireza
dc.contributor.supervisorBornemann, Jens
dc.contributor.supervisorJiang, Frank
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-23T22:39:07Z
dc.date.copyright2022en_US
dc.date.issued2022-09-23
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy Ph.D.en_US
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation presents research on theory, design, EM modeling, fabrication, packaging and measurement of Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs) and Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs) for modern radio receivers. The purpose of the thesis is to demonstrate technology development for the future state of the art radio telescopes such as the Dish Verification Array (DVA-2), next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) and Canadian Hydrogen Observatory and Radio-transient Detector (CHORD). The goal is to design integrated circuits that address the unique challenges of each radio telescope frontend in the microwave and millimeter wave regime ranging 1-120 GHz. Low noise figure, high gain and wide bandwidth cryogenic and room temperature Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA) and wideband high conversion gain mm-wave mixers are the critical components of a radio receiver. This work aims to research and develop integrated circuits based on four semiconductor technologies: GaAs pHEMT, GaAs mHEMT, InP HEMT and SiGe BiCMOS. Each technology has its unique advantages that make it the optimum choice for each specific block in the radio receiver chain. GaAs mHEMT and InP HEMT offer the ultimate low noise and high operational frequency that is suitable for cryogenic LNAs. GaAs pHEMT features low noise, excellent repeatability and medium power capacity that is advantageous in post amplifier (warm amplifier) and mixer design. SiGe BiCMOS with very high cut-off frequency HBTs and standard CMOS and multi-metal back end of line (BEOL) is the best option for millimeter-wave down-converter and post amplifier with high degree of integration. The fundamentals of each semiconductor technology are reviewed and the design methodology of four LNAs at, UHF (0.3-1.5 GHz), Ku (12-24 GHz), Ka (18-36 GHz) and Q (30-52 GHz) bands and three mm-wave mixers at Q (35-50 GHz and 33-55 GHz) and W (70-120 GHz) bands are presented with the focus on low noise, high gain, wide bandwidth and low input/output return loss. A co-design method is employed to account for packaging and wire bond effect. The designed MMICs and RFICs are validated by measurements of several prototypes, and compared to similar published works and commercially available chips that demonstrates their capability required by the next generation of radio telescopes.en_US
dc.description.embargo2023-09-13
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationA. Seyfollahi, N. Jiang, L.B.G. Knee, and J. Bornemann, “Wideband SiGe Down-Converter for Radio Astronomy Applications,” accepted (09 Sep 2022) for publication in Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments and Systems.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationA. Seyfollahi, N. Jiang, D. Garcia, and J. Bornemann, “UHF wideband GaAs MMIC LNA,” Proc. IEEE 19th Int. Symp. Antenna Techn. Applied Electromagnetics, pp. 1-2, Winnipeg, Canada, Aug. 2021.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationR. Ma, J. Lapointe, C. Storey, P. Poole, F. Jiang, A. Seyfollahi, A. W. Walker, J. Noël, A. Kam, and A. Densmore. "Impacts on access resistance of InP high electron mobility transistors from wafer processing." J. Vacuum Science & Technology B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Materials, Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena 38. 2, 2020.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationS. Salem Hesari, D. Henke, V. Reshetov, F. Jiang, A. Seyfollahi, L.B.G. Knee, L. Baker, J. Bornemann, and D. Chalmers, “Q-band receiver system design for the Canadian DVA-2 radio telescope,” Proc. SPIE 11453 Astronomical Telescopes & Instrumentation, pp. 1-16, Digital Forum, Dec. 2020.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationS. Salem Hesari, D. Henke, V. Reshetov, B. Veidt, A. Seyfollahi, F. Jiang, L. Knee, “Design and Analysis of the NRC Q-Band Receiver for the ngVLA Band-5,” SPIE Astronomical Telescopes & Instrumentation,” June 2022.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationD. Henke, F. Jiang, S.S. Hesari, A. Seyfollahi, B. Veidt, L.B.G. Knee, “Octave bandwidth receiver technology for radio and millimetre-wave telescopes,” SPIE Astronomical Telescopes & Instrumentation, June 2022.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationR. Ma, J. Lapointe, C. Storey, P. Poole, F. Jiang, A. Seyfollahi, A. W. Walker, J. Noël, A. Kam, and A. Densmore. "Impacts on access resistance of InP high electron mobility transistors from wafer processing." J. Vacuum Science & Technology B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Materials, Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena 38. 2, 2020.en_US
dc.identifier.bibliographicCitationA. Seyfollahi, N. Jiang, J. Bornemann, L. B. G. Knee, D. Garcia and P. Niranjanan, "Full-Wave Analysis and Design of a Wideband GaAs pHEMT MMIC LNA," 2018 18th International Symposium on Antenna Technology and Applied Electromagnetics (ANTEM), 2018, pp. 1-5en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/14264
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectMMICen_US
dc.subjectRFICen_US
dc.subjectGaAsen_US
dc.subjectInPen_US
dc.subjectSiGeen_US
dc.subjectpHEMTen_US
dc.subjectmHEMTen_US
dc.subjectHEMTen_US
dc.subjectHBTen_US
dc.subjectBiCMOSen_US
dc.subjectRadio Astronomyen_US
dc.subjectLow Noise Amplifieren_US
dc.subjectMixeren_US
dc.subjectMillimetre Waveen_US
dc.subjectMonolithic Microwave Integrate Circuiten_US
dc.subjectRadio Frequency Integrated Circuiten_US
dc.titleMMIC and RFIC Solutions for Modern Radio Astronomyen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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