A triple-stacked Class-E mm-wave SiGe HBT power amplifier

Abstract

A Q-band, single ended, two-stage, triple-stacked, Class-E power amplifier is designed and fabricated in a 0.13 μm SiGe HBT BiCMOS process. The Class-E amplifier comprises of three series-stacked HBTs with capacitive divider networks at the HBT bases and collectors to ensure proper large signal swing and beyond BVCEO operation at mm-wave frequencies. The measured performance of the fabricated chip show 22.2 dBm maximum output power at 20.8% peak power added efficiency, and 15.4 dB of power gain across 4 GHz centered around 40 GHz for a supply voltage of 6.5 V. The total chip area including the pads is 0.8 mm × 1.28 mm.