A W-band low-noise amplifier with shunt inductors and transformer feedback GM-boosting techniques

Abstract

This paper presents a cascode low-noise amplifier (LNA) with shunt inductors and transformer feedback gm-boosting technique. In the cascode, a shunt inductor is added between the common source and the common gate stage for impedance matching. In the common gate stage, a transformer is designed to increase the transconductance and resonate with the parasitic capacitance of the transistors. Both techniques boost the operation frequency, gain, and noise figure (NF). Fabricated in a 90-nm CMOS process, the proposed LNA exhibits a minimum NF of 11.9 dB, a maximum gain of 6.6 dB, and it consumes only 10.4 mA current from a 1.2-V supply.