Millimeter-wave amplifiers in 65-nm CMOS

We report 40 GHz and 60 GHz amplifiers in 65-nm CMOS achieving state-of-the-art performance. Simulations are verified with on-wafer measurement results. The 40-GHz amplifier exhibits 14.3 dB of gain at 42 GHz and better than 10 dB between 38 to 54 GHz with a compact chip area of 0.286 mm2. The measured noise figure is 6 dB at 50 GHz. The 1-dB output compression point is at +6-dBm power level using a 1.2 V supply. The 60-GHz amplifier achieves better than 11 dB of small-signal gain from 45 to 65 GHz. The measured noise figure is 5.6 dB at 60 GHz and below 6 dB from 55 to 65 GHz. The AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics of the 60-GHz amplifier chip were extracted from the large-signal S-parameter measurement results. The saturated output power is +7 dBm at 60 GHz using a 1.2 V supply. The size of the 60-GHz amplifier is 0.87 mm times 0.70 mm.

[1]  Huei Wang,et al.  A Miniature V-band 3-Stage Cascode LNA in 0.13/spl mu/m CMOS , 2006, 2006 IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference - Digest of Technical Papers.

[2]  F. Ellinger.  26-42 GHz SOI CMOS low noise amplifier , 2004, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[3]  J. Long,et al.  31-34GHz low noise amplifier with on-chip microstrip lines and inter-stage matching in 90-nm baseline CMOS , 2006, IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, 2006.

[4]  Jeng-Han Tsai,et al.  A Miniature Q-Band Low Noise Amplifier Using 0.13- m CMOS Technology , 2009 .

[5]  Jussi Tuovinen,et al.  Very Wideband automated On-Wafer noise figure and Gain measurements At 50-110 , 2002 .

[6]  Jeng-Han Tsai,et al.  A miniature Q-band low noise amplifier using 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS technology , 2006 .

[7]  M.T. Yang,et al.  60-GHz PA and LNA in 90-nm RF-CMOS , 2006, IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, 2006.

[8]  M. Rodwell,et al.  Millimeter-wave CMOS circuit design , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[9]  H. Zirath,et al.  90 nm CMOS MMIC amplifier , 2004, 2004 IEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Systems. Digest of Papers.

[10]  F. Gianesello,et al.  Silicon full integrated LNA, filter and antenna system beyond 40 GHz for MMW wireless communication links in advanced CMOS technologies , 2006, IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium, 2006.

[11]  R.W. Brodersen,et al.  Millimeter-wave CMOS design , 2005, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[12]  Ali M. Niknejad,et al.  Low-Power mm-Wave Components up to 104GHz in 90nm CMOS , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers.