Abstract
For performance-driven systems such as space-based applications, it is important to maximize the gain of radio-frequency amplifiers (RFAs) with a certain tolerance against radiation, temperature effects, and small form factor. In this work, we present a K-band, compact high-gain RFA using an fT-doubler topology in a silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) technology platform. The through-silicon vias (TSVs), typically used for small-size chip packaging purposes, have been effectively utilized as an adjustable matching element for input impedance, reducing the overall area of the chip. The proposed RFA, fabricated in a modest 0.35 µm SiGe technology, achieves a gain of 14.1 dB at 20 GHz center frequency, and a noise figure (NF) of 11.2 dB at the same frequency, with a power consumption of 3.3 mW. The proposed design methodology can be used for achieving high gain, avoiding a complex multi-stage amplifier design approach.
Highlights
The continuous and growing need for high-performance extreme-environment electronics includes many applications, such as satellite systems, space exploration platforms, imaging systems, and energy exploration [1,2]
Due to intense radiation exposure in the space environment, the electronic devices suffer from different damaging effects, e.g., total ionizing dose (TID) effects, single event effects (SEE), which eventually leads to operation failure or device breakdown
Based on the findings in [16,17,18], we investigated the application of through-silicon vias (TSVs), which based on the findings in
Summary
The continuous and growing need for high-performance extreme-environment electronics includes many applications, such as satellite systems, space exploration platforms, imaging systems, and energy exploration [1,2]. To improve the gain of an RFA, various circuit topologies, such as a cascode configuration and Darlington structure, have been proposed in the literature [6,7,8,9,10]. Darlington structure-based amplifiers improve the unity-gain frequency (f T ) but suffer from inequal collector currents, which may cause potential instability at low frequencies [11]. The problem of the inequal collector current of the Darlington pair structure can be removed by using a modified fT-doubler cell. The use of fT-doubler topology has been successfully implemented of the inequal collector current the Darlingtonproduct pair structure be removed by using a modified in power-amplifiers to have a highof gain-bandwidth [12,13].can.
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