A Low Noise, DC-135GHz MOS-HBT Distributed Amplifier for Receiver Applications

A 5-stage distributed amplifier is reported in a 55nm SiGe BiCMOS process. The design, which employs a MOS- HBT cascode, was optimized for low-noise, 135GHz bandwidth and an input 1 dB compression point of 3.3 dBm, as needed in 200GS/sec ADCs for future generation 1Tb/s fiberoptic systems and instrumentation receivers. The measured gain is 8.5 dB, and the measured noise figure is less than 7 dB up to 88.5 GHz. Eye diagram measurements with PRBS-31 patterns were performed at up to 120 Gb/s, and a dynamic range of over 36 dB was demonstrated. The chip consumes 99 mW from a 3.3V supply and occupies 0.36x1mm2.