Linear operation of high-power millimeter-wave stacked-FET PAs in CMOS SOI

Stacked-FET PAs have emerged as a promising circuit technique for high-power CMOS PAs at millimeter-wave bands. Common-source (1-stack) and 3-stack PAs are realized in 45-nm CMOS SOI and compared at 45-GHz. The saturated output power increases from 10 dBm to more than 18 dBm respectively for 1- and 3-stack PAs. Compression and EVM/ACP measurements for QAM modulation are presented to discuss the linearization requirements of millimeter-wave stacked-FET PAs.

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