A highly linear CMOS low noise amplifier for K-band applications

Abstract

This paper describes a highly linear low noise amplifier (LNA) for K-band applications in a 0.18 µm RF CMOS technology. The core of the circuit is a two-stage LNA consisting of a common-source and a cascode stage. By adopting an improved post-linearisation technique at the common-source transistor of the second stage, more than 5 dB improvement in IIP3 is achieved with a minor effect on noise figure and input matching. The circuit level analysis and simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.