A 60 GHz Broadband Stacked FET Power Amplifier Using 130 nm Metamorphic HEMTs

A V-band monolithic microwave integrated circuit power amplifier (PA) using metamorphic high electron mobility transistors (mHEMTs) is developed using a stacked-FET structure. Design methodology to optimize the series power combining power amplifiers at millimeter-waves is also presented. The fabricated PA using triple-stacked 130 nm mHEMTs shows a gain of 16 dB and a saturated output power of 20 dBm with a power added efficiency of 19% at 59 GHz. The 3 dB output power bandwidth is as wide as 15 GHz.