A 70–80-GHz SiGe Amplifier With Peak Output Power of 27.3 dBm

Abstract

This paper presents a fully integrated 16-way power-combining amplifier for 67-92-GHz applications in an advanced 90-nm silicon germanium HBT technology. The 16-way amplifier is implemented using three-stage commonemitter single-ended power amplifiers (PAs) as building blocks, and reactive λ/4 impedance transformation networks are used for power combining. The three-stage single PA breakout has a small-signal gain of 22 dB at 74 GHz, and saturation output power ( P sat ) of 14.3-16.4 dBm at 68-99 GHz. The powercombining PA achieves a small-signal gain of 19.3 dB at 74 GHz, and P sat of 25.3-27.3 dBm at 68-88 GHz with a maximum power added efficiency of 12.4%. The 16-way amplifier occupies 6.48 mm 2 (including pads) and consumes a maximum current of 2.1 A from a 1.8 V supply. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest power silicon-based E-band amplifier to date. Index Terms-E-band, HBT, millimeter-wave (mm-wave) integrated circuits, power amplifier (PA), silicon germanium (SiGe). I. INTRODUCTION S ILICON-BASED millimeter-wave (mm-wave) systems at E-band (71-76, 81-86, and 92-95 GHz) have been developed over the past few years for point-to-point multi-Gb/s communication [1]-[5] and automotive radar systems [6]-[11].Although advanced CMOS and silicon germanium (SiGe) technologies provide low-cost, high-yield, and high-integration solutions for such systems, the transmit output power is still limited due to the scaling down in transistor sizes and lower breakdown voltages. Therefore, III-V technologies, such as GaAs [12]-[14], GaN [15]-[18], and InP [19]-[21], still dominate the power amplifier (PA) area at these frequencies despite of their relatively high cost. Power-combining techniques, such as voltage combining where transformers are used [22]-[25], current combining where the Wilkinson combiners or T-junctions are used [26]-[30], and spatial power combing [31]-[33], are usually employed to increase the output power of CMOS and SiGe technologies. Wilkinson-and transformer-based powercombining techniques result in relatively high loss when the number of combining elements increases, and the free-space power-combining technique requires on-chip antennas, which Manuscript

A 0.45 W 18% PAE E‐Band Power Amplifier in 100 nm InGaAs pHEMT Technology

“…Albeit different technologies used, it can be seen that high output power will lead to relatively low efficiency owing to the loss in the power combining network. The work [6] in 250 nm InP with / MAX of 400/700 GHz shows an impressive PAE. Thanks to the proposed design techniques, this PA achieves both high output power and high efficiency in 100 nm InGaAs pHEMT, competing well with prior-arts at E-band.…”

“…Although the ever-increasing speed of MOS transistors provides new opportunities to mm-Wave designers, the low breakdown voltage limits the output power of E-band CMOS PAs to about 0.1 W [2,4,5]. The work in [6] demonstrated an E-band SiGe PA with 27.3 dBm OUT , but it may suffer additional loss in the packaging due to the placement of the output pads at the center of the die. Therefore, wattlevel E-band PAs still remain in the domain of compound semiconductors.…”

“…Therefore, wattlevel E-band PAs still remain in the domain of compound semiconductors. At E-band, GaN PAs [7] deliver more than 1 W OUT due to the high breakdown voltage while InP PAs [6] achieve PAE as high as 40% thanks to the high / MAX . Nevertheless, GaAs technology [8][9][10] has the advantages of relatively low cost, high yield, and easy foundry access, offering an attractive alternative for E-band applications.…”

A SiGe Multiplier Array With Output Power of 5–8 dBm at 200–230 GHz

“…with a single emitter finger, dual collector, and base fingers (C-B-E-B-C) results in a peak f t / f max of 310/350 GHz at 1.5-2.5 mA/μm bias current when referred to M1 (Metal 1) [38], and f t / f max drops to 260/300 GHz when referred to the top metal LD due to the interconnection parasitics [28], [39]. This is much better than the CMOS transistors which typically reduce f t / f max from 460 GHz (referred to M1) to 260 GHz (referred to the top metal) [40].…”

Error Analysis of Approximate Calculation of Voltage Divider Biased Common-Emitter Amplifier

“…The first region is the study of new material devices. In this region, H. C. Lin and G. M. Rebeiz [1], K. Ma, T. B. Kumar and K. S. Yeo [2] carried out their work focusing on new silicon-germanium alloy material devices and made great progress. H. C. Lin and G.…”