A Wideband 77-GHz Power Amplifier with Mixed Matching Network in 130-nm BiCMOS Technology

Abstract

A wideband 77-GHz fully integrated power amplifier with on-chip transformer-based $50-\Omega$ input and output matching network is demonstrated in a 130-nm BiCMOS process. A microstrip line-transformer mixed matching network is adopted to realize the impedance transformation in a rather compact structure. Stability issue is considered through the whole design. By carefully designing the layout, the chip occupies a small area of 0.202 mm2 and parasitic effects are optimized. By employing wideband transformer matching method and differential cascode topology, the PA finally achieves an overall bandwidth of 13 GHz with a peak gain of 23.9 dB. Using an adaptive bias circuit, the PA delivers an output 1-dB gain compression point (OP1dB) of 13.1 dBm with a peak power added efficiency (PAE) of 10.1%.