Narrow Results

The noise behavior of a two-port is usually described through the conventional set of noise parameters F_min, R_n, and the complex Y_opt. However, noise parameters developed using wave-based techniques also have their merit as they could offer different insights to a two-port's noise behavior. Unlike the conventional noise parameters, these wave-based noise parameters could be terminal-invariant and describe only the intrinsic noise behavior of a two-port. In this paper, several important noise parameters derived from wave-based approaches are reviewed. The derivation of each set of parameters is discussed and illustrated. The measurement approach of each set of parameters is also briefly covered.

The accuracy issues of on-wafer noise characterization for a linear noisy two-port are presented in this paper. It starts with the description of a microwave noise measurement system and the possible source of error due to the microwave power meter in the measurement system. With the description of noise characterization techniques, this paper reviews a couple of methods for noise parameter extraction to handle the errors in the measured noise powers, noise factors, and source admittances. It also presents the methods to extract the physical noise parameters and to take care of different source admittances in the hot and cold states for accuracy enhancement.