The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory is interested in investigating the possibility of replacing 408 MHz narrow-band feed antennas with wide-band antennas. Such change would require low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), which would operate over a wider frequency band. This thesis explores the feasibility of using GaAs p-HEMT transistors to implement a wide-band low-noise amplifier for the 400 MHz to 800 MHz frequencies for use in a wide-band antenna array.

In order to demonstrate the feasibility, a three-stage cascaded low-noise amplifier was developed and experimentally verified. The GaAs p-HEMT LNA achieves a sub 0.36dB noise figure in the 390MHz to 810MHz frequency region and a beam-equivalent receiver noise temperature of 17.8K to 28.3K within the 390 MHz-to-810MHz frequency region. The LNA demonstrates S21 > 41.1 dB within the 400 MHz-to-800MHz frequency region while consuming 406mW of power. This LNA has P1dB> -32.9 dBm and IIP3 > -22.5 dBm within the frequency region.