Arrangement of Vias to Connect a PCB Ground Plane in a Common-Source Amplifier

This study investigates how the via arrangement connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) affects the gain of a common-source amplifier. The gain reduction factor of the amplifier due to interconnect of vias on a PCB ground plane is formulated. The equivalent parasitic element of ground via on a PCB is extracted from the impedance parameters, as obtained by three-dimensional (3-D) electromagnetic simulation. Theoretical analysis results indicate that the via arrangement on a PCB ground plane is a trade-off between gain degradation and PCB fabrication.