A 220GHz Dual Channel LNA Front-End for a Direct Detection Polarimetric Receiver

In this work, a compact 220 GHz polarimetric LNA front-end is reported. The front-end is intended to be integrated into a polarimetric direct detection receiver for sensing of temperature and humidity profiles in the Earth’s atmosphere. We show measured channel gain of approximately 35 dB per channel, with a corresponding noise figure of 3.9 dB. This work represents the first 220 GHz polarimetric direct detection front-end, and is enabled by an advanced 25 nm InP HEMT MMIC technology.