LAUSR

In this paper, an approach for the practical design of broadband amplifiers in hybrid technology is presented. It is based on the use of non-uniform transmission lines to implement impedance matching networks, which are synthesized exploiting the powerful optimization tools available in the most common computer-aided design software packages. The versatility of the proposed technique makes it suitable for the design of a wide variety of broadband amplifiers. Furthermore, it is easily implementable in most microwave simulators and allows a considerable design time reduction, since it can be applied in a systematic way and avoids the use of external tools. To validate the technique, it is applied to the design of a low noise amplifier using a single encapsulated transistor. A prototype was implemented, providing 10-dB flat gain from 1 to 12 GHz, noise figure under 2.5 dB, and acceptable input and output matching, which agrees with the simulation data.