A W-Band Balanced Power Amplifier Using Broadside Coupled Strip-Line Coupler in SiGe BiCMOS 0.13-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu\text{m}$ </tex-math> </inline-formula> Technology

Abstract

Load-variation insensitivity for impedance matching between power amplifiers (PAs) and transmitted antennas contributes to challenge the design of millimeter-wave wireless systems. In this paper, a W-band two-way balanced power amplifier (PA) based on a compact quadrature coupler with broadside coupled strip-line (BCSL) as the core section has been presented to enhance the load-variation insensitivity and stability. By utilizing the proposed coupler topology, the proposed coupler obtains broadband performances with low amplitude and phase imbalance. The designed W-band PA achieves higher power-added efficiency (PAE) and saturated output power Psat over wide frequency bandwidth. The proposed W-band balanced PA is implemented in a 0.13-μm SiGe BiCMOS process and achieves a measured Psat of 16.3 dBm and a peak PAE of 14.1% at 100 GHz under 1.6-V power supply. The measured Psat with 1-dB bandwidth is from 91 to 102 GHz. The measured results present the feasibility of the compact quadrature coupler. The total chip area (with pads) is 0.64 mm 2 , where the size of the proposed quadrature coupler is only 0.04 mm 2 . Index Terms-SiGe, W-band, quadrature coupler, broadside coupled strip-line (BCSL), balanced power amplifier.

A compact 9–23 GHz low noise amplifier with bandwidth extension techniques in 0.18‐μm SiGe BiCMOS

“…The shunt-peaking inductor L 2 introduces a delay in the current flow to its own branch, resulting in more initial charging current flowing to the load, and reducing the rise time. 29 This, in turn, extends the 3-dB bandwidth of the amplifier. The locus of poles p 1 (p 2 ) and p 3 ( p 4 ) changes with an increase in shunt-peaking inductor L 2 from 200 to 1000 pH, as shown in Figure 6.…”

“…The shunt‐peaking inductor L 2 introduces a delay in the current flow to its own branch, resulting in more initial charging current flowing to the load, and reducing the rise time 29 . This, in turn, extends the 3‐dB bandwidth of the amplifier.…”

A 20-dBm W-band power amplifier in 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS technology

“…Power amplifier is one of the most challenging blocks in silicon technology. Designing a high power, high linearity and high efficiency amplifier is difficult due to the low breakdown limits、Passive devices with low quality factor and low ft/fmax [3][4]. With the development of silicon-based technology and the continuous reduction of transistor size, the characteristic frequency of silicon-based transistors continues to increase.…”