Multi-Drive Stacked-FET Power Amplifiers at 90 GHz in 45 nm SOI CMOS

Abstract

Gate resistance significantly limits the output power and power-added efficiency of stacked-FET power amplifiers in 45 nm SOI CMOS above 60 GHz. A multi-drive stacked-FET approach is proposed to improve the output power and efficiency. An analysis of conventional and multi-drive stacked-FET PAs demonstrates the performance improvement. A multi-drive three-stack PA is implemented in 45 nm SOI CMOS for 90 GHz operation occupying 0.23 mm 2 . This PA achieves more than 19 dBm output power with peak PAE of 14% and 12 dB gain at 90 GHz using a 3.4 V power supply.