Analysis of Design Parameters Reducing the Damage Rate of Low-Noise Amplifiers Affected by High-Power Electromagnetic Pulses

Abstract

To protect the RF front end from electronic warfare, many studies have focused on damage phenomena of the low-noise amplifiers (LNAs). Existing studies have focused on the damage points of semiconductor devices because the peripheral circuit elements of LNAs are less susceptible to breakdown than nonlinear elements. However, their theoretical analysis is insufficient to explain the damage mechanism of LNAs under conditions such as changes in input power, frequency, and design parameters. To analyze the relationship between damage rate and parameters of the peripheral circuit of an LNA, this paper proposes a new definition of the power absorbed to a nonlinear element when input power to an LNA is very high by high-power electromagnetic pulses. In addition, LNAs having different input impedances and output impedances are designed to verify the power absorption. From the results, this paper identified parameters that increase the damage rate of LNAs, and suggested designs to reduce the damage rate.