A 26-39.5 GHz Two-Path Voltage-Combined Power Amplifier with Bandwidth Broadening Technique in 22nm FD-SOI

This paper presents the analysis and design of a 26-39.5GHz power amplifier. In order to achieve high output power, we adopt the two-path voltage-combined topology. A voltage-mode power combiner is designed using strongly-coupled transformers for low insertion loss. The cascode structure is applied in the power-stage for high power gain and output power. The MOS-capacitor based neutralization technique and gate-shorted common gate transistors are applied to boost power gain and enhance stability. Meanwhile, for expanding the operation bandwidth of the power amplifier, weakly-coupled transformer matching technique is applied in the interstage and input matching network. The overall circuit is based on 22-nm FD-SOI process. Simulation results show that the power amplifier has a 3-dB bandwidth of 13.5GHz, ranging from 26 to 39.5 GHz. At the center frequency of 32.5 GHz, the PA has a power gain of 29 dB. The saturated output power of the power amplifier is 25.1 dBm, and the peak power added efficiency PAE is about 41.2%. The output 1dB compression point is 19.1 dBm.