G-band Power Amplifiers in 130 nm InP Technology

Abstract

Two G-band three-stage power amplifiers (PA), a Darlington PA and a stacked PA, are designed and manufactured in 130 nm InP HBT Technology. The stacked PA shows a 70 GHz bandwidth of S 21 (from 140 GHz to 210 GHz) with a peak S21 gain of 30 dB. It has a fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 40%. While the Darlington PA demonstrates a 90 GHz bandwidth of S 21 (from 130 GHz to 220 GHz) with a peak S21 gain of 20 dB, the FBW of the Darlington PA is 51% which is highest among the G-band PAs. Furthermore, the Darlington PA has a saturated output power, Psat, of 9.6 dBm at 150 GHz, and a power added efficiency (PAE) of 14.7% with a 55 mW de power consumption. The stacked PA has a Psat of 13.4 dBm at 150 GHz, and a PAE of 17.3% with a 108 mW dc power consumption. To authors' knowledge, the stacked PA has the highest PAE among the D/G-band PAs published in the literature.