A 30-dB 1–16-GHz low noise IF amplifier in 90-nm CMOS

Abstract

This paper presents a high-gain wideband low-noise IF amplifier aimed for the ALMA front end system using 90-nm LP CMOS technology. A topology of three optimized cascading stages is proposed to achieve a flat and wideband gain. Incorporating an input inductor and a gate-inductive gain-peaking inductor, the active shunt feedback technique is employed to extend the matching bandwidth and optimize the noise figure. The circuit achieves a flat gain of 30.5 dB with 3 dB bandwidth of 1–16 GHz and a minimum noise figure of 3.76 dB. Under 1.2 V supply voltage, the proposed IF amplifier consumes 42 mW DC power. The chip die including pads takes up 0.53 mm2, while the active area is only 0.022 mm2.