A 19-GHz Broadband Amplifier Using a gm-Boosted Cascode in 0.18-μm CMOS

Abstract

This paper describes a broadband CMOS amplifier for differential receiver front-ends. A capacitive cross-coupling network provides passive gmboosting in the input cascode stage. This results in a greater than 30% increase in bandwidth. Combined with several other established bandwidth-enhancement techniques, the prototype achieves a measured 3-dB bandwidth of 19 GHz with no peaking in a 0.18-μm CMOS process. The dc gain is 11 dB differential, and the power consumption is 113 mW. Eye diagrams up to 24 Gb/s are shown.