Noise Wave Measurements for Extracting Noise Properties of Amplifiers and Transistors

Wireless communication markets drive demands for high-quality microwave components including low-noise amplifiers and transistors for low-power and wide-coverage applications (Internet-of-Things, Satellite Internet Services). Weak noise power makes device noise characterization challenging with extra complications obtaining full noise parameters (for transistor design). We review the advantages and limitations of traditional source-pull and discuss a new technique to directly measure noise waves and their correlations by means of digital detection. NIST has developed digital radiometry and we plan to expand the technique to extract noise parameters of connectorized and on-wafer amplifiers and transistors without using a tuner.