RF Low Noise Amplifiers and Power Amplifiers using Tunnelling Barrier modulated Superconductor-Semiconductor-Superconductor Junctions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a superconductor-semiconductor-superconductor junction device with a controllable gate for RF amplifiers, promising lower noise and higher frequency operation compared to conventional CMOS solutions.

Contribution

It proposes a novel SC-Sm-SC junction device with a gate-controlled tunnelling resistance for RF applications, enabling higher frequency operation and reduced noise.

Findings

LNA with 20dB gain up to 36GHz

PA capable of delivering -10dBm power up to 350GHz

Reduced parasitic capacitances improve high-frequency performance

Abstract

In high-performance RF transceivers the thrust of has been on lower noise LNAs and high-power high-speed PAs. The performance trade-off has forced many solutions to have the LNA and PA on a separate die compared to the rest of baseband. Often fabricated in GaAs or InP, they need to be properly interfaced with the rest of signal chain leading to signal integrity issues. Applications for such technologies range from defence, aerospace to scientific instrumentation. In this paper we propose a device using superconductor-semiconductor-superconductor (SC-Sm-SC) junction with a controllable gate terminal to modulate the tunnelling resistance. This arrangement in a typical resonant-tank LNA or an impedance matching PA would reduce the parasitic capacitances leading to higher frequency operation. Also by virtue of Cooper-pair bosons being the bulk carriers, noise due to carrier-carrier and carrier-lattice scattering will be much lower than its conventional CMOS counterparts. Our calculation shows that it can be used in a LNA with 20dB gain till 36GHz and in a PA to deliver -10dBm power till 350GHz.