60-GHz PA and LNA in 90-nm RF-CMOS

Abstract

60-GHz power (PA) and low-noise (LNA) amplifiers implemented in a 90-nm RF-CMOS process with thick 9-metal layer copper backend and transistor f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">T</sub> /f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">max</sub> of 140GHz/170GHz are reported. The PA operates from a 1.5V supply with 5.2dB power gain, a 3-dB bandwidth >13GHz, a P <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1dB</sub> of +6.4dBm with 7% PAE and a saturated output power of +9.3dBm at 60GHz. The LNA features 14.6dB gain, an IIP3 of -6.8dBm, and a simulated NF of 4.5dB, while drawing 16mA from a 1.5V supply. Both circuits employ inductors which reduce the total PA and LNA die sizes to 0.35 times 0.43 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> and 0.35 times 0.40 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> , respectively