Stabilization of Microwave Amplifiers

Sadia Nawaz, Student Member, IEEE

Haleema Mehmood
Final-Year Students, Department ofElectrical Engineering,
University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore
simply2smart@ggmail. com, nanhaleem@hotmail. com
Abstract
In this paper the concept ofstability, in the design
of microwave transistor amplifiers is discussed along
with various methods of stabilizing the potentially
unstable device. The various techniques are then
illustrated with the help of a design example utilizing
the parameters of a typical small signal microwave
BJT

1. Introduction
In the design of microwave amplifiers, stability is
a major concern. Stability of a device is its resistance
to oscillate. The device should not only be stable in the
desired frequency range but it must also possess out of
band stability to avoid undesired oscillations in output
response.
Stability of a device can easily be determined by
its S parameters; which are effective for small-signal
design in linear, class A amplifiers. S parameters can
be utilized for amplifiers running under 1 watt of
power [1].
As far as the device is concerned it may be
unconditionally stable or potentially unstable [2]. The
major reason for instability is the negative resistance at
the input or the output port. A negative resistance
implies a reflection co-efficient having a magnitude
greater than one. Conditions for unconditional stability
at a given frequency are[2]:

IFsl <
IFINI

FL

Sll

IFOUTI=I S22

<1

S12S21FL
1 S22FL
-

S12S21FS
I-S11Fs

<1
<1

(1)
(2)

(3)

(4)

Here all the coefficients are normalized to same

characteristic impedance.
Since Fs and FL are less than one for all
passive source and load impedances; so we only have
to consider FIN and FouT. The values of FIN and FouT
are affected by the source and load impedance because
of the internal reverse feedback i.e., S12 of the device.
So there can be some values of Fs and FL which can
make FIN and FOuT greater than one.
Thus major cause of instability is the internal
feedback which is present in all transistors and makes
the device prone to oscillations.
A convenient method of determining the device's
stability is by using the Rollett's stability factor K
which is given as [2]:
K= 1

A12
Sll 12 IS22 12 +A
2 S12S21

A = SlIS22 -S12S21

Stability circles can also be plotted on the Smith

Chart which, define the region of stable terminating
impedances.
It is the purpose of this paper to illustrate various
methods of stabilizing the amplifier with the help of a
design example.

2. Techniques of Amplifier Stabilization

The techniques described below hold for common
source or common emitter configuration but can also
be applied to other configurations with slight
modifications.

2.1. Choosing Appropriate Terminations

In this technique we simply choose our source and
load terminations such that they are far removed from
the unstable areas i.e., the points representing Fs and

FL should be far away from the stability circles. It

ensures stable operation at the designed frequency but
as we move away from the center frequency the
matching networks deviate from their expected
behavior; so this technique can only be used for
narrowband amplifiers.
An alternate may be to take stability circles out of
the Smith Chart instead of taking the terminating
impedances out of the unstable regions. The following
methods illustrate the application of this technique.

However, this technique is not as effective as series

resistive loading at the output. It also reduces the gain
of the device.
A series transmission line may also be added
before the series resistance. Its effect is, however,
device dependent. In addition to providing stability, it
can; in some cases; also improve the gain.

In this method we try to cancel out the reverse

feedback factor i.e., S12 by using an external feedback
network. An advantage of unilateralization is that it
isolates the input and output from each other. Another
advantage is that, in single or multistage amplifiers
using unilateralized stages; tuning in any part of the
network will not affect tuning in other parts of the
circuit [3]. The main drawback, however, is that S12 as
well as the feedback network used to cancel it are both
frequency dependent and the complete cancellation of
S12 can only be achieved in a very narrow frequency
band.

2.3.3. Resistance in Bias Line. For bias supply

decoupling, usually an inductor or choke is used. This
inductor or choke represents an open circuit at the
designed frequency but as the frequency varies; it
deviates from its ideal open circuit behavior. This
deviation can create instability at low frequencies. In
order to avoid it; we put a small value resistor in the
bias supply line (above the distributed/lumped choke).
This added resistor has no effect on circuit
performance at and around the center frequency. At
low frequencies, however, it helps in stabilizing the
device. This method is applied when our device is
sufficiently stable at high frequencies and only the low
frequency stability is a problem.
It should be noted here that the voltage drop
caused by this resistor in the bias line must be
accounted for when designing the biasing circuit.

2.3. Resistive Loading

2.4 Common Terminal Inductance

The input and output loop resistance can be made

positive by using resistive loading i.e., for stability [2]:

Any inductance at the common terminal (emitter

or source) increases stability at the cost of gain
reduction. This added inductance also helps to improve
the input VSWR and noise figure.
Care should be taken that the amount of
inductance added is very low because excessive source
or emitter inductance can act adversely to cause
instability and gain peaking. The small value of
inductance required can be introduced in the form of
slightly longer source leads or via holes to ground.

2.2. Unilateralization

Re (ZS+ZIN)>O
Re (ZL+ZOUT)>O

The following methods can be used to attain stability:

2.3.1. Input Resistive Loading. An input (base or
gate) series or shunt resistance can be used to cancel
out the negative resistance part; it will stabilize the
transistor but at the expense of significant gain
reduction and increased noise figure. Hence this
technique cannot be used in designs where noise is a
major concern.

2.3.2. Output Resistive Loading. Adding a low value

series resistor at the output (collector or drain) forces
stability over a wide band of frequencies. The higher
the resistor value the better the stability. It also reduces
the gain of the device but to an acceptable level. The
effect on noise figure is minute. Values of resistor upto
20Q can safely be used. This is the most frequently
used technique for attaining wideband stability.
Output shunt resistance can also be used to cancel
the negative resistance at the output terminal.

NOTE: It should be noted that the elements used for

attaining stability may be treated as a part of the
device, for further designing of the amplifier.

3. Design Example
In this design a low noise BJT i.e., Infineon's BFP
470f is used. The simulation results are obtained by
using Agilent's ADS software. We are illustrating
different methods of stabilizing the transistor over a
wide band of frequencies with the help of simulated
results and presenting them in tabular form. Special
emphasis is paid to the noise figure of the device.
After choosing a proper transistor, the next step is
to select an appropriate bias point. Since the S

parameters of any device are directly related with Q

point, so stability is also dependent upon it. The
relationship between the two varies from device to
device. As far as our chosen device is concerned,
stability improves as the bias current is increased.
So there is a tradeoff between stability and power
requirement. In our design example, we have chosen a
bias point of 2.5 V and 20 mA.
The simulated results for the stability factor K, the
maximum gain and the minimum noise-figure are
given.

Table 1. Transistor with 50.0 terminations

freq
500.0MHz
1.OOOGHz
1.500GHz
2.000GHz
2.500GHz
3.000GHz
3.500GHz
4.000GHz
4.500GHz
5.000GHz
5.500GHz
6.000GHz

StabFactl

0.141
0.273
0.392
0.527
0.639
0.739
0.825
0.898
0.957
1.061
1.079
1.102

MaxGainl

32.583
29.544
27.725
26.413
25.314
24.337
23.559
22.809
22.137
20.000
19.078
18.192

NFmin
0.419
0.508
0.597
0.670
0.714
0.736
0.758
0.780
0.800
0.820
0.865
0.910

Ta ble 2.With 3.3.0 series resistor at input

freq
500.0MHz
1.OOOGHz
1.500GHz
2.000GHz
2.500GHz
3.000GHz
3.500GHz
4.000GHz
4.500GHz
5.000GHz
5.500GHz
6.000GHz

StabFactl

0.173
0.340
0.493
0.665
0.812
0.942
1.055
1.155
1.235
1.353
1.376
1.407

MaxGainl

32.583
29.544
27.725
26.413
25.314
24.337
22.121
20.421
19.217
17.953
17.135
16.339

NFmin

0.625
0.726
0.839
0.942
0.969
1.003
1.017
1.009
1.018
1.033
1.111
1.246

Table 3. With 47.0 shunt resistor at input

freq
500.0MHz
1.OOOGHz
1.500GHz
2.000GHz
2.500GHz
3.000GHz
3.500GHz
4.000GHz
4.500GHz
5.000GHz
5.500GHz
6.000GHz

StabFactl

0.181
0.284
0.404
0.566
0.708
0.830
0.943
1.032
1.109
1.242
1.246
1.238

MaxGainl
32.583
29.544
27.725
26.413
25.314
24.337
23.559
21.717
20.126
18.543
17.805
17.196

NFmin
2.777
2.775
2.752
2.688
2.700
2.754
2.847
2.974
3.051
3.118
2.984
2.724

As evident from the above given results, a

resistance connected at input helps in stabilizing the
device but the cost paid is gain reduction and noise
figure deterioration.

Table 4. With 18.0 series output resistance

freq
500.0MHz
1.OOOGHz
1.500GHz
2.000GHz
2.500GHz
3.000GHz
3.500GHz
4.000GHz
4.500GHz
5.000GHz
5.500GHz
6.000GHz

StabFactl
0.150
0.294
0.426
0.585
0.709
0.828
0.932
1.016
1.088
1.203
1.215
1.223

MaxGainl
32.583
29.544
27.725
26.413
25.314
24.337
23.559
22.032
20.332
18.783
17.992
17.288

NFmin
0.419
0.509
0.599
0.674
0.722
0.747
0.773
0.802
0.829
0.855
0.903
0.942

It can be seen from the table that the output series

resistance has more effect at elevated frequencies. In
contrast to the input resistance method, the degradation
of noise figure is negligible.

Ta ble 5. With 18 mm (50.0) transmission line and

series 18.0 resistor
freq
500.0MHz
1.OOOGHz
1.500GHz
2.000GHz
2.500GHz
3.000GHz
3.500GHz
4.000GHz
4.500GHz
5.000GHz
5.500GHz
6.000GHz

StabFactl

0.347
0.655
0.893
1.076
1.159
1.172
1.133
1.069
1.015
1.094
1.119
1.210

MaxGainl

32.583
29.544
27.725
24.732
22.893
21.828
21.345
21.206
21.375
19.639
18.699
17.369

NFmin

0.420
0.511
0.603
0.680
0.727
0.750
0.774
0.797
0.819
0.845
0.897
0.941

The transmission line helps in improving the stability

as well as the gain. The noise figure, however, is only
slightly affected.

Table 6. With 18 mm (50.0) transmission line,

series 18.0 resistor and vias
freq
500.0MHz
1.OOOGHz
1.500GHz
2.000GHz
2.500GHz
3.000GHz
3.500GHz
4.000GHz
4.500GHz
5.000GHz
5.500GHz
6.000GHz

StabFactl

0.379
0.718
0.983
1.188
1.283
1.302
1.261
1.184
1.111
1.130
1.123
1.181

MaxGainl

32.561
29.468
27.560
23.514
21.710
20.520
19.844
19.460
19.282
18.372
17.678
16.527

NFmin

0.420
0.511
0.604
0.680
0.728
0.752
0.776
0.799
0.821
0.845
0.896
0.939

The addition of vias has further improved stability

and decreased the gain.

Table 7. With 18 mm (50.0) transmission line,

series 18.0 resistor, vias and 33.0 resistor above
collector choke
freq

500.0MHz
1.OOOGHz
1.500GHz
2.000GHz
2.500GHz
3.000GHz
3.500GHz
4.000GHz
4.500GHz
5.000GHz
5.500GHz
6.000GHz

StabFactl
2.084
1.248
1.239
1.398
1.518
1.574
1.557
1.492
1.452
1.591
1.810
2.259

MaxGainl
26.638
26.470
24.613
22.383
20.655
19.361
18.521
17.909
17.318
16.049
14.604
12.785

NFmin
0.437
0.523
0.611
0.686
0.734
0.761
0.788
0.816
0.843
0.879
0.954
1.033

Finally with the addition of a 33Q resistor in the

bias line, stability over the entire range is achieved.

4. Conclusion
A thorough study of various methods of stabilizing
a microwave transistor has been presented. The design
example illustrates a step by step process of transistor
stabilization. Effects on noise figure and gain have also
been discussed.

5. Acknowledgements
We wish to express our most sincere gratitude and
appreciation to our advisor, Dr. Rana Inam Elahi for
his invaluable support and guidance during our work.
We also wish to acknowledge Mr. Muhammad
Ahmad's help.

6. References
[1] Cotter W. Sayre, Complete Wireless Design.
McGraw-Hill.

[2] G. Gonzalez, Microwave Transistor

Amplifiers, Analysis and Design. Prentice
Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1997.
[3] Roy Hejhall, "RF Small Signal Design
Using Two Port Parameters, " Freescale
Semiconductor, Inc, 1993, Rev 0.
Document: AN215A.