30-50 GHz high-gain CMOS UWB LNA

Abstract

A 30-50 GHz CMOS ultra-wideband (UWB) low-noise amplifier (LNA) with a flat high power gain (S21), along with a flat low-noise figure (NF) is demonstrated for the Atacama large millimetre array (ALMA) band-1 (31.3-45 GHz) system applications. The high S21 and low NF are achieved because the triple-well transistors are utilised with their respective source and body terminals connected together. Furthermore, the bandwidth extension and gain flatness is achieved due to the careful design of the inductive-peaking networks. The LNA has a measured S21 of 21.5 ± 1.5 dB, a minimum NF (NFmin) of 3.8 dB at 32.5 GHz, an average NF (NFavg) of 4.67 dB over the range of 30-50 GHz and an input third-order intercept point (IIP3) of 0 dBm, with a DC power consumption of 20.4 mW at 1.2 V supply. The proposed LNA outperforms all the reported commercial standard CMOS Q-band LNAs, with the highest gain bandwidth product and highest IIP3 suitable for the ALMA band-1 system applications. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2013.