A high-dynamic range SiGe low-noise amplifier for X-band radar applications

In this paper, we present a high-dynamic range (HDR) LNA in 0.25-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology, aiming for X-band radar applications. LNA is designed in two-stages and each stage is a cascode topology using HBTs. First stage is optimized for noise performance while second stage is optimized for high output power. LNA design includes inductive degeneration and optimization of transistor sizes for simultaneous input noise-power match, wide-band input-output matching, DC bias circuitry to increase linearity, inter-stage matching optimized for gain flatness, etc. In 8.5-11.5 GHz band, the LNA achieves 24-27 dB flat gain, 1.6-1.65 dB noise figure, better than 15 dB input-output return loss, 16 dBm output P1dB and 24.7 dBm OIP3 using 1.3×0.9 mm2 chip area including bond pads, with a power consumption of 115 mW.

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