The Technnology Group
Development and production of receiver subsystems at MPIfR.
The Technology Group is responsible for the development and production of receiver subsystems, most noteworthy the cryogenic low noise amplifiers (LNAs) that are developed at the MPIfR.
A suite of LNA designs is available with continuous frequency coverage,from S-band at 1.75 GHz (MeerKAT+), through C, X, Ku, K, Ka, Q und currently ending with the extended W-Band (116 GHz). All LNAs developed by the group are based on InGaAs mHEMT MMICs that are developed and fabricated at Fraunhofer IAF, a collaboration that has continued for nearly 20 years.
The LNAs typically undergo an update cycle every few years as demanded by receiver upgrades e.g. for the Effelsberg telescope, in order to adapt to improved MMIC designs (with respect to noise, bandwidth, gain).
Amongst other projects, the group currently is heavily involved in the development of the CryoPAF cryogenic frontend package and the wideband 18 - 50 GHz LNA for the 3-Band-Receivers for Effelsberg and MRO, and EU Radioblocks. The group is in charge of the ongoing production and qualification of the 67 - 116 GHz ALMA Band 2 first-stage cryogenic LNA under contract from ESO. These LNAs demonstrate unmatched noise performance.
