A wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system has been built. Using measurement system developed here, noise parameters of a chip device can be determined over entire 50-75 GHz range in an automated manner. As an example, measured noise parameters of an InP HEMT are shown over 50-75 GHz

Hughes, N.

Jukkala, P.

Kangaslahti, P.

Kantanen, M.

Lahdes, M.

Tuovinen, J.

Vähä-Heikkilä, T.

English

AMS Acta

A WIDEBAND AUTOMATED MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR ON-WAFER NOISEPARAMETER MEASUREMENTS AT 50-75 GHZM. Kantanen1, M. Lahdes1, J. Tuovinen1, T. Vähä-Heikkilä1, P. Kangaslahti2, P. Jukkala2, N. Hughes21 MilliLab, VTT Information Technology, P.O. Box 1202, FIN-02044 VTT, FinlandTel.: +358 9 456 6501  Fax: +358 9 456 7013Email: mikko.kantanen@vtt.fi2 Ylinen Electronics Ltd., Teollisuustie 9 A, FIN-02700 Kauniainen, FinlandABSTRACTA wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system has been built. Using measurementsystem developed here, noise parameters of a chip device can be determined over entire 50-75 GHz range inan automated manner. As an example, measured noise parameters of an InP HEMT are shown over 50-75 GHz.INTRODUCTIONNoise parameters are used to describe noise behaviour of a linear two-port and they are essential informationin designing low noise amplifiers (LNA). Usually, noise parameters at mm-wave frequencies are not givenby the manufacturer or they have been derived by extrapolation from values measured at microwavefrequencies. Therefore, accurate noise parameter measurements at mm-wave frequencies are needed indevice characterisation as well as in the development and verification of device dependent equivalent circuitmodels.Wideband on-wafer noise parameter measurements have so far been carried out only up to about 40 GHz. At50-75 GHz range, measurements with manual input tuner and covering only part of the V-band has beenshown previously by Lahdes, et al. (1, 2) and Tuovinen, et al. (3). Above 75 GHz, results only on a singlefrequency and for passive components have been reported by Alam, et al. (4).NOISE PARAMETERSNoise parameters are unmeasurable quantities, which are determined indirectly by measuring noise figure ofa linear two-port with different source impedances connected to the device under test (DUT). Noise figure ofa linear two-port varies as a function of source reflection coefficient as( ) 222min114optSoptSnrFFΓ+Γ−Γ−Γ+= (1)where Fmin is the minimum noise figure, rn is the normalised noise resistance, Γopt is the optimum reflectioncoefficient, with which minimum noise figure is achieved and ΓS is a reflection coefficient of a networkconnected to the input of the two-port. Parameters Fmin, rn and Γopt are called noise parameters. Because Γoptis a complex quantity, at least four noise figure measurements using different source reflection coefficientsΓS have to be made in order to solve noise parameters of the DUT. Usually, more than four measurementsare made and noise parameters are solved using mathematical fitting routines.MEASUREMENT SETUPFigure 1 shows a measurement setup for a wideband automated noise parameter measurements at 50-75 GHz. Setup can be divided in five functional blocks which are a noise source, a tuner, DUT, a noisereceiver, and a S-parameter measurement setup. A solid-state noise source is used as a hot/cold noisereference needed in the noise figure measurement. A commercial automated waveguide tuner is used tochange reflection coefficient of the network connected to the input of the DUT. Reflection coefficient at theDUT input plane is controlled by changing position and insertion of a moveable probe in a standardrectangular waveguide. Probe motions are controlled using stepper motors. Maximum magnitude of arealisable source reflection coefficient at DUT input is about 0.8. The noise receiver to measure noise powerincludes a LNA to increase receivers sensitivity and a mixer to downconvert the noise power from mm-wavefrequencies to 30 MHz, which is suitable for a standard noise figure meter. The 50-75 GHz band LNA hasbeen obtained through the Planck Surveyor development work, Tuovinen, et al. (5). The noise figure meter isused only to measure noise power levels. S-parameter measurement setup is included for DUTcharacterisation purposes. Transition from S-parameter measurements to noise measurements can be madewithout reconfiguration of the measurement setup using waveguide switches. A computer is used to controlmeasurement setup and to perform noise parameter calculations.Prior to actual noise measurements passive network between the noise source and the noise receiver must becarefully characterised. Also, a kBG-constant as well as noise parameters of the noise receiver aredetermined during calibration measurements using an on-wafer thru calibration standard. In the measurementmethod described by Adamian and Uhlir (6) and Meierer and Tsironis (7), only one hot noise powermeasurement with at least four cold noise power measurements are needed during noise figuremeasurements. After calibrations, a thru standard is replaced by a DUT and at least four noise powermeasurements are made using different values for source reflection coefficient at DUT input. Overall noisefigure of a cascade of the DUT and the noise receiver can be determined from measured noise power levelsusing the kBG-constant of the noise receiver. Noise figure of the DUT is extracted removing the noisecontribution of the noise receiver with help of noise parameters obtained during calibration. Noiseparameters of the DUT are calculated from a set of noise figure and source reflection coefficient pairs.RESULTS FOR HEMT DEVICEOperation of the wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system was verified bymeasuring noise parameters of both passive and active chip devices. Noise parameters were determined byperforming cold noise power measurements using nine different source reflection coefficient valuesgenerated by the tuner. Noise parameters were calculated from measured data using noise parameterextraction technique described by Vasilescu et al. (8) with similar modifications as suggested inEscotte, et al. (9). With passive devices, a good agreement between values obtained by the automatedmeasurement system and noise parameters calculated from S-parameter data was found, as can be seen inFigure 2. Typical results obtained for HEMT device are presented in Figure 3. Gate length and width of theHEMT device are 0.18 µm and 2 x 40 µm, respectively. Drain voltage 1.0 V and drain current 10 mA wereused in the measurements.Measurement uncertainty was studied with help of a Monte Carlo analysis. In the analysis random statisticalerrors were added to all measured values and noise parameters were re-calculated 1000 times. Resulted noiseparameter sets were examined statistically. As an example, measured noise parameters with 95.5 %confidence boundaries at 57 GHz were Fmin = 2.65 ± 0.5 dB, rn = 0.25 ± 0.06, |Γopt| = 0.57 ± 0.1,∠Γopt = 121° ± 8°. Deviations of the minimum noise figure and the optimum source reflection coefficient areillustrated in Figure 4. Confidence boundary of individual noise parameter depends heavily of device as wellas values of the other noise parameters.CONCLUSIONSA unique wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system has been built and itsperformance has been demonstrated by measuring noise parameters of both passive and active device.System provides noise parameter data over entire 50-75 GHz range. The wideband automated on-wafer noiseparameter measurement system will be an important tool in the development and verification of devicemodels as well as in device characterisation.ACKNOWLEDGMENTThis work has been supported by the European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC) contract no. 1655/95/NL/MV.REFERENCES1. Lahdes, M., Tuovinen, J., Sipilä, M.: 60 GHz on-wafer noise measurements using cold-source method, 1997, 49thARFTG Conference Digest, pp. 146-154.2. Lahdes, M., Tuovinen, J.: V-band on-wafer noise parameter measurements, 1998, Proceedings of GAAS'98, pp. 39-44.3. Tuovinen, J., Lahdes, M., Karttaavi, T., Hakojärvi, H.: Millimeter wave on-wafer testing at room and cryogenictemperatures (Invited), 1999, Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Recent Advances in MicrowaveTechnology (ISRAMT'99), Malaga.4. Alam, T. A., Pollard, R. D., Snowden C. M.: The determination of on-wafer noise parameters at W-band, 1997,Proceedings of the 27th European Microwave Conference Jerusalem, September 8-12, pp. 687-691.5. Tuovinen, J., Kangaslahti, P., Haapanen, P., Hughes, N., Jukkala, P., Karttaavi, T., Koistinen, O., Lahdes, M.,Salminen, H., Tanskanen, J., Urpo, S.: Development of 70 GHz receivers for the Planck LFI, 2000, AstrophysicsLetters and Communications, vol. 37, pp. 181-187.6. Adamian, V., Uhlir, A.: A novel procedure for receiver noise characterization, 1973, IEEE Transactions onInstrumentation and Measurements, vol. 22, pp.181-182.7. Meierer, R., Tsironis, C.: An on-wafer noise parameter measurement technique with automatic receiver calibration,1995, Microwave Journal, vol. 38, pp. 22-37.8. Vasilescu, G. I., Alquie, G., Krim, M.: Exact computation of two-port noise parameters, 1989, Electronics Letters,vol. 25, pp. 292-293.9. Escotte, L., Plana, R., Graffeuil, J.: Evaluation of Noise Parameter Extraction Methods, 1993, IEEE Transactions onMicrowave Theory and Techniques, vol. 41, pp. 382-387.Figure 1: Measurement setup for on-wafer noise parameter measurements at 50-75 GHz.(a) (b)Figure 2: Comparison between values measured with automated measurement system and valuescalculated from S-parameters: minimum noise figure (a) and normalised noise resistance (b) ofa passive test device.012345650 55 60 65 70 75Frequency (GHz)F min (dB)Measured Calculated0,00,20,40,60,81,01,21,41,650 55 60 65 70 75Frequency (GHz)r nMeasured CalculatedLNoise sourceVector network analyzer Automated noise figure meterSignal generatorTunerTuner controllerHP VEEPCSwitchProbestationGP-IBHP8510C HP8970AHP83650AMT986AMT977ALow noiseamplifierSwitch(a)(c)(b)(d)Figure 3: Measured minimum noise figure (a), normalised noise resistance (b), magnitude of optimumsource reflection coefficient (c) and phase of optimum source reflection coefficient (d) of aHEMT device. Values at 65-75 GHz range had some extra errors due to inaccuratecalibrations(a) (b)Figure 4: Deviations of minimum noise figure (a) and optimum source reflection coefficient (b) obtainedin Monte Carlo analysis at 57 GHz.0,00,10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,91,050 55 60 65 70 75Frequency (GHz)r n0,00,10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,91,050 55 60 65 70 75Frequency (GHz)Magnitude02040608010012014016018050 55 60 65 70 75Frequency (GHz)Phase (degrees)1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.402468101214161820Percentage of calculated valuesFmin (dB)0,00,51,01,52,02,550 55 60 65 70 75Frequency (GHz)F min (dB)

A wideband automated measurement system for on-wafer noise parameter measurements at 50-75 GHZ

Kantanen, Mikko

Lahdes, Manu

Tuovinen, Jussi

Vähä-Heikkilä, Tauno

VTT Research System

A wideband automated measurement system for on-wafer noise parameter measurements at 50-75 GHz

A WIDEBAND AUTOMATED MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR ON-WAFER NOISE
PARAMETER MEASUREMENTS AT 50-75 GHZ
M. Kantanen1, M. Lahdes1, J. Tuovinen1, T. Vähä-Heikkilä1, P. Kangaslahti2, P. Jukkala2, N. Hughes2
1 MilliLab, VTT Information Technology, P.O. Box 1202, FIN-02044 VTT, Finland
Tel.: +358 9 456 6501  Fax: +358 9 456 7013
Email: mikko.kantanen@vtt.fi
2 Ylinen Electronics Ltd., Teollisuustie 9 A, FIN-02700 Kauniainen, Finland
ABSTRACT
A wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system has been built. Using measurement
system developed here, noise parameters of a chip device can be determined over entire 50-75 GHz range in
an automated manner. As an example, measured noise parameters of an InP HEMT are shown over 50-
75 GHz.
INTRODUCTION
Noise parameters are used to describe noise behaviour of a linear two-port and they are essential information
in designing low noise amplifiers (LNA). Usually, noise parameters at mm-wave frequencies are not given
by the manufacturer or they have been derived by extrapolation from values measured at microwave
frequencies. Therefore, accurate noise parameter measurements at mm-wave frequencies are needed in
device characterisation as well as in the development and verification of device dependent equivalent circuit
models.
Wideband on-wafer noise parameter measurements have so far been carried out only up to about 40 GHz. At
50-75 GHz range, measurements with manual input tuner and covering only part of the V-band has been
shown previously by Lahdes, et al. (1, 2) and Tuovinen, et al. (3). Above 75 GHz, results only on a single
frequency and for passive components have been reported by Alam, et al. (4).
NOISE PARAMETERS
Noise parameters are unmeasurable quantities, which are determined indirectly by measuring noise figure of
a linear two-port with different source impedances connected to the device under test (DUT). Noise figure of
a linear two-port varies as a function of source reflection coefficient as
( ) 22
2
min
11
4
optS
optS
nrFF
Γ+Γ−
Γ−Γ
+= (1)
where Fmin is the minimum noise figure, rn is the normalised noise resistance, Γopt is the optimum reflection
coefficient, with which minimum noise figure is achieved and ΓS is a reflection coefficient of a network
connected to the input of the two-port. Parameters Fmin, rn and Γopt are called noise parameters. Because Γopt
is a complex quantity, at least four noise figure measurements using different source reflection coefficients
ΓS have to be made in order to solve noise parameters of the DUT. Usually, more than four measurements
are made and noise parameters are solved using mathematical fitting routines.
MEASUREMENT SETUP
Figure 1 shows a measurement setup for a wideband automated noise parameter measurements at 50-
75 GHz. Setup can be divided in five functional blocks which are a noise source, a tuner, DUT, a noise
receiver, and a S-parameter measurement setup. A solid-state noise source is used as a hot/cold noise
reference needed in the noise figure measurement. A commercial automated waveguide tuner is used to
change reflection coefficient of the network connected to the input of the DUT. Reflection coefficient at the
DUT input plane is controlled by changing position and insertion of a moveable probe in a standard
rectangular waveguide. Probe motions are controlled using stepper motors. Maximum magnitude of a
realisable source reflection coefficient at DUT input is about 0.8. The noise receiver to measure noise power
includes a LNA to increase receivers sensitivity and a mixer to downconvert the noise power from mm-wave
frequencies to 30 MHz, which is suitable for a standard noise figure meter. The 50-75 GHz band LNA has
been obtained through the Planck Surveyor development work, Tuovinen, et al. (5). The noise figure meter is
used only to measure noise power levels. S-parameter measurement setup is included for DUT
characterisation purposes. Transition from S-parameter measurements to noise measurements can be made
without reconfiguration of the measurement setup using waveguide switches. A computer is used to control
measurement setup and to perform noise parameter calculations.
Prior to actual noise measurements passive network between the noise source and the noise receiver must be
carefully characterised. Also, a kBG-constant as well as noise parameters of the noise receiver are
determined during calibration measurements using an on-wafer thru calibration standard. In the measurement
method described by Adamian and Uhlir (6) and Meierer and Tsironis (7), only one hot noise power
measurement with at least four cold noise power measurements are needed during noise figure
measurements. After calibrations, a thru standard is replaced by a DUT and at least four noise power
measurements are made using different values for source reflection coefficient at DUT input. Overall noise
figure of a cascade of the DUT and the noise receiver can be determined from measured noise power levels
using the kBG-constant of the noise receiver. Noise figure of the DUT is extracted removing the noise
contribution of the noise receiver with help of noise parameters obtained during calibration. Noise
parameters of the DUT are calculated from a set of noise figure and source reflection coefficient pairs.
RESULTS FOR HEMT DEVICE
Operation of the wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system was verified by
measuring noise parameters of both passive and active chip devices. Noise parameters were determined by
performing cold noise power measurements using nine different source reflection coefficient values
generated by the tuner. Noise parameters were calculated from measured data using noise parameter
extraction technique described by Vasilescu et al. (8) with similar modifications as suggested in
Escotte, et al. (9). With passive devices, a good agreement between values obtained by the automated
measurement system and noise parameters calculated from S-parameter data was found, as can be seen in
Figure 2. Typical results obtained for HEMT device are presented in Figure 3. Gate length and width of the
HEMT device are 0.18 µm and 2 x 40 µm, respectively. Drain voltage 1.0 V and drain current 10 mA were
used in the measurements.
Measurement uncertainty was studied with help of a Monte Carlo analysis. In the analysis random statistical
errors were added to all measured values and noise parameters were re-calculated 1000 times. Resulted noise
parameter sets were examined statistically. As an example, measured noise parameters with 95.5 %
confidence boundaries at 57 GHz were Fmin = 2.65 ± 0.5 dB, rn = 0.25 ± 0.06, |Γopt| = 0.57 ± 0.1,
∠Γopt = 121° ± 8°. Deviations of the minimum noise figure and the optimum source reflection coefficient are
illustrated in Figure 4. Confidence boundary of individual noise parameter depends heavily of device as well
as values of the other noise parameters.
CONCLUSIONS
A unique wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system has been built and its
performance has been demonstrated by measuring noise parameters of both passive and active device.
System provides noise parameter data over entire 50-75 GHz range. The wideband automated on-wafer noise
parameter measurement system will be an important tool in the development and verification of device
models as well as in device characterisation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work has been supported by the European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC) contract no. 1655/95/NL/MV.
REFERENCES
1. Lahdes, M., Tuovinen, J., Sipilä, M.: 60 GHz on-wafer noise measurements using cold-source method, 1997, 49th
ARFTG Conference Digest, pp. 146-154.
2. Lahdes, M., Tuovinen, J.: V-band on-wafer noise parameter measurements, 1998, Proceedings of GAAS'98, pp. 39-
44.
3. Tuovinen, J., Lahdes, M., Karttaavi, T., Hakojärvi, H.: Millimeter wave on-wafer testing at room and cryogenic
temperatures (Invited), 1999, Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Microwave
Technology (ISRAMT'99), Malaga.
4. Alam, T. A., Pollard, R. D., Snowden C. M.: The determination of on-wafer noise parameters at W-band, 1997,
Proceedings of the 27th European Microwave Conference Jerusalem, September 8-12, pp. 687-691.
5. Tuovinen, J., Kangaslahti, P., Haapanen, P., Hughes, N., Jukkala, P., Karttaavi, T., Koistinen, O., Lahdes, M.,
Salminen, H., Tanskanen, J., Urpo, S.: Development of 70 GHz receivers for the Planck LFI, 2000, Astrophysics
Letters and Communications, vol. 37, pp. 181-187.
6. Adamian, V., Uhlir, A.: A novel procedure for receiver noise characterization, 1973, IEEE Transactions on
Instrumentation and Measurements, vol. 22, pp.181-182.
7. Meierer, R., Tsironis, C.: An on-wafer noise parameter measurement technique with automatic receiver calibration,
1995, Microwave Journal, vol. 38, pp. 22-37.
8. Vasilescu, G. I., Alquie, G., Krim, M.: Exact computation of two-port noise parameters, 1989, Electronics Letters,
vol. 25, pp. 292-293.
9. Escotte, L., Plana, R., Graffeuil, J.: Evaluation of Noise Parameter Extraction Methods, 1993, IEEE Transactions on
Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 41, pp. 382-387.
Figure 1: Measurement setup for on-wafer noise parameter measurements at 50-75 GHz.
(a) (b)
Figure 2: Comparison between values measured with automated measurement system and values
calculated from S-parameters: minimum noise figure (a) and normalised noise resistance (b) of
a passive test device.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
F m
in
 (d
B
)
Measured Calculated
0,0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
1,2
1,4
1,6
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
r n
Measured Calculated
L
Noise source
Vector network analyzer Automated noise figure meter
Signal generator
Tuner
Tuner controller
HP VEE
PC
Switch
Probe
station
GP-IB
HP8510C HP8970A
HP83650A
MT986A
MT977A
Low noise
amplifier
Switch
(a)
(c)
(b)
(d)
Figure 3: Measured minimum noise figure (a), normalised noise resistance (b), magnitude of optimum
source reflection coefficient (c) and phase of optimum source reflection coefficient (d) of a
HEMT device. Values at 65-75 GHz range had some extra errors due to inaccurate
calibrations
(a) (b)
Figure 4: Deviations of minimum noise figure (a) and optimum source reflection coefficient (b) obtained
in Monte Carlo analysis at 57 GHz.
0,0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1,0
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
r n
0,0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1,0
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
M
ag
ni
tu
de
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
Ph
as
e 
(d
eg
re
es
)
1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
P
er
ce
nt
ag
e 
of
 c
al
cu
la
te
d 
va
lu
es
F
min
 (dB)
0,0
0,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
F m
in
 (d
B
)


AMS Acta - Alm@DL - Università di Bologna

A WIDEBAND AUTOMATED MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR ON-WAFER NOISE
PARAMETER MEASUREMENTS AT 50-75 GHZ
M. Kantanen1, M. Lahdes1, J. Tuovinen1, T. Vähä-Heikkilä1, P. Kangaslahti2, P. Jukkala2, N. Hughes2
1 MilliLab, VTT Information Technology, P.O. Box 1202, FIN-02044 VTT, Finland
Tel.: +358 9 456 6501  Fax: +358 9 456 7013
Email: mikko.kantanen@vtt.fi
2 Ylinen Electronics Ltd., Teollisuustie 9 A, FIN-02700 Kauniainen, Finland
ABSTRACT
A wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system has been built. Using measurement
system developed here, noise parameters of a chip device can be determined over entire 50-75 GHz range in
an automated manner. As an example, measured noise parameters of an InP HEMT are shown over 50-
75 GHz.
INTRODUCTION
Noise parameters are used to describe noise behaviour of a linear two-port and they are essential information
in designing low noise amplifiers (LNA). Usually, noise parameters at mm-wave frequencies are not given
by the manufacturer or they have been derived by extrapolation from values measured at microwave
frequencies. Therefore, accurate noise parameter measurements at mm-wave frequencies are needed in
device characterisation as well as in the development and verification of device dependent equivalent circuit
models.
Wideband on-wafer noise parameter measurements have so far been carried out only up to about 40 GHz. At
50-75 GHz range, measurements with manual input tuner and covering only part of the V-band has been
shown previously by Lahdes, et al. (1, 2) and Tuovinen, et al. (3). Above 75 GHz, results only on a single
frequency and for passive components have been reported by Alam, et al. (4).
NOISE PARAMETERS
Noise parameters are unmeasurable quantities, which are determined indirectly by measuring noise figure of
a linear two-port with different source impedances connected to the device under test (DUT). Noise figure of
a linear two-port varies as a function of source reflection coefficient as
( ) 22
2
min
11
4
optS
optS
nrFF
Γ+Γ−
Γ−Γ
+= (1)
where Fmin is the minimum noise figure, rn is the normalised noise resistance, Γopt is the optimum reflection
coefficient, with which minimum noise figure is achieved and ΓS is a reflection coefficient of a network
connected to the input of the two-port. Parameters Fmin, rn and Γopt are called noise parameters. Because Γopt
is a complex quantity, at least four noise figure measurements using different source reflection coefficients
ΓS have to be made in order to solve noise parameters of the DUT. Usually, more than four measurements
are made and noise parameters are solved using mathematical fitting routines.
MEASUREMENT SETUP
Figure 1 shows a measurement setup for a wideband automated noise parameter measurements at 50-
75 GHz. Setup can be divided in five functional blocks which are a noise source, a tuner, DUT, a noise
receiver, and a S-parameter measurement setup. A solid-state noise source is used as a hot/cold noise
reference needed in the noise figure measurement. A commercial automated waveguide tuner is used to
change reflection coefficient of the network connected to the input of the DUT. Reflection coefficient at the
DUT input plane is controlled by changing position and insertion of a moveable probe in a standard
rectangular waveguide. Probe motions are controlled using stepper motors. Maximum magnitude of a
realisable source reflection coefficient at DUT input is about 0.8. The noise receiver to measure noise power
includes a LNA to increase receivers sensitivity and a mixer to downconvert the noise power from mm-wave
frequencies to 30 MHz, which is suitable for a standard noise figure meter. The 50-75 GHz band LNA has
been obtained through the Planck Surveyor development work, Tuovinen, et al. (5). The noise figure meter is
used only to measure noise power levels. S-parameter measurement setup is included for DUT
characterisation purposes. Transition from S-parameter measurements to noise measurements can be made
without reconfiguration of the measurement setup using waveguide switches. A computer is used to control
measurement setup and to perform noise parameter calculations.
Prior to actual noise measurements passive network between the noise source and the noise receiver must be
carefully characterised. Also, a kBG-constant as well as noise parameters of the noise receiver are
determined during calibration measurements using an on-wafer thru calibration standard. In the measurement
method described by Adamian and Uhlir (6) and Meierer and Tsironis (7), only one hot noise power
measurement with at least four cold noise power measurements are needed during noise figure
measurements. After calibrations, a thru standard is replaced by a DUT and at least four noise power
measurements are made using different values for source reflection coefficient at DUT input. Overall noise
figure of a cascade of the DUT and the noise receiver can be determined from measured noise power levels
using the kBG-constant of the noise receiver. Noise figure of the DUT is extracted removing the noise
contribution of the noise receiver with help of noise parameters obtained during calibration. Noise
parameters of the DUT are calculated from a set of noise figure and source reflection coefficient pairs.
RESULTS FOR HEMT DEVICE
Operation of the wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system was verified by
measuring noise parameters of both passive and active chip devices. Noise parameters were determined by
performing cold noise power measurements using nine different source reflection coefficient values
generated by the tuner. Noise parameters were calculated from measured data using noise parameter
extraction technique described by Vasilescu et al. (8) with similar modifications as suggested in
Escotte, et al. (9). With passive devices, a good agreement between values obtained by the automated
measurement system and noise parameters calculated from S-parameter data was found, as can be seen in
Figure 2. Typical results obtained for HEMT device are presented in Figure 3. Gate length and width of the
HEMT device are 0.18 µm and 2 x 40 µm, respectively. Drain voltage 1.0 V and drain current 10 mA were
used in the measurements.
Measurement uncertainty was studied with help of a Monte Carlo analysis. In the analysis random statistical
errors were added to all measured values and noise parameters were re-calculated 1000 times. Resulted noise
parameter sets were examined statistically. As an example, measured noise parameters with 95.5 %
confidence boundaries at 57 GHz were Fmin = 2.65 ± 0.5 dB, rn = 0.25 ± 0.06, |Γopt| = 0.57 ± 0.1,
∠Γopt = 121° ± 8°. Deviations of the minimum noise figure and the optimum source reflection coefficient are
illustrated in Figure 4. Confidence boundary of individual noise parameter depends heavily of device as well
as values of the other noise parameters.
CONCLUSIONS
A unique wideband automated on-wafer noise parameter measurement system has been built and its
performance has been demonstrated by measuring noise parameters of both passive and active device.
System provides noise parameter data over entire 50-75 GHz range. The wideband automated on-wafer noise
parameter measurement system will be an important tool in the development and verification of device
models as well as in device characterisation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work has been supported by the European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC) contract no. 1655/95/NL/MV.
REFERENCES
1. Lahdes, M., Tuovinen, J., Sipilä, M.: 60 GHz on-wafer noise measurements using cold-source method, 1997, 49th
ARFTG Conference Digest, pp. 146-154.
2. Lahdes, M., Tuovinen, J.: V-band on-wafer noise parameter measurements, 1998, Proceedings of GAAS'98, pp. 39-
44.
3. Tuovinen, J., Lahdes, M., Karttaavi, T., Hakojärvi, H.: Millimeter wave on-wafer testing at room and cryogenic
temperatures (Invited), 1999, Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Microwave
Technology (ISRAMT'99), Malaga.
4. Alam, T. A., Pollard, R. D., Snowden C. M.: The determination of on-wafer noise parameters at W-band, 1997,
Proceedings of the 27th European Microwave Conference Jerusalem, September 8-12, pp. 687-691.
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Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 41, pp. 382-387.
Figure 1: Measurement setup for on-wafer noise parameter measurements at 50-75 GHz.
(a) (b)
Figure 2: Comparison between values measured with automated measurement system and values
calculated from S-parameters: minimum noise figure (a) and normalised noise resistance (b) of
a passive test device.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
F m
in
 (d
B
)
Measured Calculated
0,0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1,0
1,2
1,4
1,6
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
r n
Measured Calculated
L
Noise source
Vector network analyzer Automated noise figure meter
Signal generator
Tuner
Tuner controller
HP VEE
PC
Switch
Probe
station
GP-IB
HP8510C HP8970A
HP83650A
MT986A
MT977A
Low noise
amplifier
Switch
(a)
(c)
(b)
(d)
Figure 3: Measured minimum noise figure (a), normalised noise resistance (b), magnitude of optimum
source reflection coefficient (c) and phase of optimum source reflection coefficient (d) of a
HEMT device. Values at 65-75 GHz range had some extra errors due to inaccurate
calibrations
(a) (b)
Figure 4: Deviations of minimum noise figure (a) and optimum source reflection coefficient (b) obtained
in Monte Carlo analysis at 57 GHz.
0,0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1,0
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
r n
0,0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1,0
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
M
ag
ni
tu
de
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
Ph
as
e 
(d
eg
re
es
)
1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.40
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Pe
rc
en
ta
ge
 o
f c
al
cu
la
te
d 
va
lu
es
F
min (dB)
0,0
0,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
50 55 60 65 70 75
Frequency (GHz)
F m
in
 (d
B
)


A wideband automated measurement system for on-wafer noise parameter measurements at 50-75 GHZ

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