A SiGe-based broadband 100–180-GHz differential power amplifier with 11 dBm peak output power and >1.3THz GBW

Abstract

A high-gain broadband power amplifier (PA) implemented in a 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology is presented. The architecture is based on a class-A four stage fully-differential cas-code amplifier. Each stage is directly matched to the subsequent stage, using a 4-reactance wide-band matching network. On-wafer characterization of the amplifier shows a peak differential gain of 24.8 dB with a 3-dB bandwidth spanning from 100 GHz to around 180 GHz (limited by equipment bandwidth). The amplifier demonstrates a peak differential output power of 11 dBm at 160 GHz and more than 7.5 dBm output power over the entire D-band. The amplifier consumes around 97 mA from a 2.7 V supply. The circuit is the first Si-based power amplifier covering the full D-band. It achieves a record gain-bandwidth product of >1.39THz in D-band, an exceptional GBW/P DC ratio of more than 5 GHz/mW and a state-of-the-art output power at 160 GHz and 170 GHz in Si-based circuits.