Stability analysis of broadband cascode amplifiers in the presence of inductive parasitic components

Theoretical stability analysis of broadband cascode amplifiers at high frequencies is presented. The stability of the amplifier in the presence of parasitic inductive components is thoroughly investigated. It is shown that the stability can be improved by inserting a series resistance in the gate of common-gate device of the cascode amplifier. To ensure stability, the gate resistance should be selected within specific ranges that are derived analytically. Based on the insights provided by the analyses, several practical design guidelines are given to improve the stability of high-frequency broadband cascode amplifiers. Finally, the derived results are adopted in stabilisation of an X-band cascode amplifier implemented in a 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor process.

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

[2]  Ali M. Niknejad,et al.  Design of a CMOS Tapered Cascaded , 2009 .

[3]  Stanley H. Cohen,et al.  Design and Analysis , 2010 .

[4]  A.M. Niknejad,et al.  Design of a CMOS Tapered Cascaded Multistage Distributed Amplifier , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[5]  A. Hajimiri,et al.  A 24-GHz, +14.5-dBm fully integrated power amplifier in 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS , 2005, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[6]  Huei Wang,et al.  Analysis and Design of Millimeter-Wave Low-Power CMOS LNA With Transformer-Multicascode Topology , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[7]  Walid S. Saba,et al.  ANALYSIS AND DESIGN , 2000 .

[8]  K. O. Kenneth,et al.  An 800-μW 26-GHz CMOS tuned amplifier , 2006, RFIC 2006.

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

[10]  M. Moezzi,et al.  A Fully Integrated 0.18- $\mu{\hbox {m}}$ CMOS Transceiver Chip for $X$-Band Phased-Array Systems , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[11]  Jeng-Han Tsai,et al.  Design and Analysis of a 55–71-GHz Compact and Broadband Distributed Active Transformer Power Amplifier in 90-nm CMOS Process , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[12]  J. Kozikowski.  Analysis and Design of Emitter Followers at High Frequencies , 1964 .

[13]  Kuo-Liang Deng,et al.  Design and analysis of DC-to-14-GHz and 22-GHz CMOS cascode , 2004 .

[14]  Izzat Darwazeh,et al.  Hybrid Pi common base analysis , 1990 .

[15]  Richard C. Tozer,et al.  Stability in Small Signal Common Base Amplifiers , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers.

[16]  W.R. Deal,et al.  Design and Analysis of Broadband Dual-Gate Balanced Low-Noise Amplifiers , 2007, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[17]  Yu-Cheng Liu,et al.  Design and Analysis of a DC–43.5-GHz Fully Integrated Distributed Amplifier Using GaAs HEMT–HBT Cascode Gain Stage , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[18]  Shen-Iuan Liu,et al.  A Broadband Noise-Canceling CMOS LNA for 3.1–10.6-GHz UWB Receivers , 2007, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[19]  H. F. Hammad,et al.  Comprehensive study of multiband unconditional stabilization of common-source and common-gate MESFET transistors using feedback , 2002 .

[20]  Yo-Sheng Lin,et al.  Low-power 24 GHz CMOS receiver front-end using isolation enhancement technique for automatic radar systems , 2012 .