Layout-Oriented Design of a 60 GHz Power Amplifier in SiGe Technology

Abstract

This work presents the design of a fully integrated cascode single-stage power amplifier for 60 GHz band. The technology used in the design was Global Foundries SiGe of 0.13µm (BiCMOS8HP). A load-pull analysis of the cascode was done including optimization of the bias and geometry parameters aiming at finding the best performance of this topology. A layout-oriented design approach was adopted to decide upon different combinations/arrangements of passive components and interconnections, aiming at reducing the global losses and, thus, increasing the energy efficiency of the amplifier. Post-layout simulations show a saturated output power of 19.32 dBm, 27.8% of power added efficiency (PAE) and a power gain of 10.4 dB at 60 GHz. The amplifier consumes 63 mA from a 4.4 V power supply and occupies an area of approximately 0,475 mm2. The circuitwastaped-outinlate2017.Experimentalresultsarepresentedattheendofthetext.