Electrothermal breakdown of an intentional electromagnetic pulse injected into Ku-band gaas Mesfet-based low noise amplifier(LNA)
In this paper, electrothermal breakdown of a Ku-band GaAs MESFET-based low noise amplifier (LNA) is investigated in the presence of an intentional electromagnetic pulse. The injected EMP is generated by one special high power microwave system, and its waveform can be adjusted effectively. The input-output responses of a set of LNAs are measured and compared for different injected EMP widths. It is observed that the first-stage GaAs MESFET in the LNA can be easily broken down, which is mainly caused by the rapid temperature rise in its channel region. This research can provide some useful knowledge for protecting some semiconductor active devices from the attack of an injected EMP.