Abstract
In this study, we demonstrate an 85-GHz eight-way four-stage power amplifier (PA) with transformer-based power combiners (PCs) and power splitters (PSs) operating beyond their self-resonance frequencies in 65-nm CMOS. An equivalent two-port network of a multiport PC/PS was developed to investigate the circuit behavior for estimating the possible operating frequency ranges and performing optimal impedance matching of the PA with PCs/PSs. From the results, the PA achieved a power gain of 29.3 dB with a 3-dB gain bandwidth recorded from 82.7 to 86.7 GHz, a saturated output power of 19.1 dBm with an output 1-dB gain compression point of 16.2 dBm, and a peak power-added efficiency of 8.6%. The total chip size is 0.72 mm2, and the core size excluding pads is only 0.172 mm2.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 882-891 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits |
Volume | 57 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Mar 2022 |
Keywords
- CMOS
- millimeter wave
- power amplifier (PA)
- power combining
- self-resonance frequency (SRF)