24–35 GHz Filtering LNA and Filtering Switch Using Compact Mixed Magnetic-Electric Coupling Circuit in 28-nm Bulk CMOS

Abstract

This paper presents compact 24–35 GHz filtering low noise amplifier (LNA) and filtering switch in 28-nm CMOS technology. A compact mixed magnetic-electric coupling circuit is designed, where a transmission zero is introduced out of the passband due to the cancellation of the magnetic and electric couplings. By analyzing the impedance characteristics, this structure can be designed with the impedance conversion function to replace the widely used transformers in integrated circuit designs. It shows the advantages of easy control of coupling coefficient and out-of-band rejection. Then, an LNA employing the magnetic-electric coupling circuits as impedance matching networks is designed. Image rejection can be achieved without increasing the circuit area. Moreover, by loading transistors to this mixed magnetic-electric coupling circuit, the input impedance can be controlled by the parasitic components of the transistor. Subsequently, a filter passband can be switched on and off, realizing a very compact filtering single-pole single-throw (SPST) switch. The fabricated filtering LNA is measured with a 3-dB bandwidth of 24–35 GHz, a noise figure (NF) of 2.4-3.6 dB, a maximum gain of 22 dB, and suppression of better than 25 dBc below 18 GHz. The filtering switch shows a minimum on-state loss of 2.1 dB at 28.6 GHz with better than 12.9 dB rejection below 16 GHz and off-state isolation of higher than 19 dB.