60-GHz SiGe-BiCMOS Power Amplifier With 14.7 dBm Output Power and 18 dB Power Gain

In this paper, a power amplifier (PA) operating in the 60 GHz ISM band is presented. A single-stage cascode architecture has been used. The circuit has been fabricated in a 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology with a total chip area of 0.3 mm
²
. The measured amplifier reaches a power gain of 18 dB and a saturated output power (Psat) of 14.7 dBm, which corresponds to a peak power added efficiency (PAE) of 11%. The PA exhibits a 1-dB compression point (P1dB) of 12 dBm. Regarding the small-signal performance, the PA achieves a small-signal power gain of 17.6 dB and a 3-dB bandwidth of 12 GHz, from 54 GHz to 66 GHz, covering the whole 60-GHz ISM band. To the authors' best knowledge, the presented amplifier demonstrates the highest Psat among the reported single-stage single-ended PAs and requires the lowest chip area.