11.81 mW 3.1–10.6 GHz ultra‐wideband low‐noise amplifier with 2.87 ± 0.19 dB noise figure and 12.52 ± 0.81 dB gain using 0.18 μm CMOS technology

Abstract

AbstractA 3.1–10.6 GHz ultra‐wideband low‐noise amplifier (UWB LNA) with excellent phase linearity property (group‐delay variation is only ±15.79 ps across the whole band) using standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology is reported.Both high and flat power gain (S21) and low and flat noise figure (NF) frequency responses are achieved by tuning the pole frequencies and pole quality factors of the second‐order gain and NF frequency responses to approximate the maximally flat condition simultaneously. The LNA dissipates 11.81 mW power and achieves input return loss (S11) smaller than −10.25 dB, high and flat S21 of 12.52 ± 0.81 dB, and low and flat NF of 2.87 ± 0.19 dB over the 3.1–10.6 GHz band. To the author's knowledge, this is one of the lowest NFs ever reported for a 3.1–10.6 GHz CMOS UWB LNA. The measured 1‐dB compression point and input third‐order intermodulation point are −16 and −6.2 dBm, respectively, at 6 GHz. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:1445–1450, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26813