A 0.5-16 GHz capacitively coupled HBT medium power amplifier MMIC with active bias regulation

This work describes a 0.5-16 GHz capacitively coupled HBT medium power distributed amplifier targeted for 10 Gb/s fiber-optic transmitter applications. The amplifier obtains a nominal 8-9 dB gain from 500 MHz to 16 GHz with frequency capability down to baseband, and delivers as much as 19 dBm of output power. With a 10 Gb/s PRBS signal applied, the MMIC obtains a peak-to-peak output voltage of >3 V with a clear eye opening while consuming a Pdc of only 420 mW or half the dc power of previous HBT mod driver ICs.