A 21–27 GHz CMOS wideband LNA with 9.3±1.3 dB gain and 103.9±8.1 ps group-delay using standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology

A 21-27-GHz wideband low-noise amplifier (LNA) with state-of-the-art phase linearity property (group-delay-variation is only plusmn8.1 ps across the whole band) using standard 0.18 mum CMOS technology is reported for the first time. To achieve high and flat gain and small group-delay-variation at the same time, the inductive series-peaking technique was adopted in the output of each stage for bandwidth enhancement. The 21-27-GHz wideband LNA dissipated 27 mW power and achieved input return loss (S
₁₁
) of -13~ -20.1 dB, output return loss (S
₂₂
) of -8.2~ -30.2 dB, flat forward gain (S
₂₁
) of 9.3plusmn1.3 dB, reverse isolation (S
₁₂
) of -52.7~ -73.3 dB, and excellent noise figure (NF) of 4.9~ 6.1 dB over the 21-27 GHz band of interest. The measured input 1-dB compression point (P
_1dB-in
) and input third-order inter-modulation point (IIP3) were -14 dBm and -4 dBm, respectively, at 24 GHz. The chip area was only 870times450 mum
²
excluding the test pads.