X-Band +24 dBm CMOS power amplifier with transformer power combining

A monolithic 10 GHz CMOS power amplifier has been demonstrated in a 0.18 µm commercially available CMOS process. The design utilizes on-chip transformer based power combining to achieve a saturated output power of 24.5 dBm at 10 GHz, with a power added efficiency of 18%. The circuit has a small signal gain of 25 dB, with a 3 dB bandwidth from 8.6 to 10.3 GHz. The circuit operates off of a 3.0V supply and can deliver > 21 dBm of power over an 8 – 11 GHz bandwidth.

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