Damage Properties of a Limiter-Protected LNA Caused by High-Power Microwave Pulses

Aiming at the damaging effect of high-power microwave (HPM) on the limiter-protected low-noise amplifier (LNA), both of the HPM irradiation experiment platform and TCAD simulation are built. It shows that with the increase of the injection power, a plateau leakage power is observed. The excessive leakage power will damage the LNA. Moreover, the experimental results show that the damage threshold decreases with the increase of the pulsewidth or the pulse number. In addition, the pulse repetition frequency has little influence on the damage threshold of the limiter-protected LNA. The damage mechanism and damage location of the limiter-protected LNA are simulated. The simulation results are consistent with the experimental results. The study is of great significance in evaluating the protective ability of PIN limiters against LNAs with the HPM.