A K-Band Broadband Power Amplifier With 15.7 dBm Power and 30.4% PAE in 0.13 μm CMOS

This brief presents a K-band broadband power amplifier (PA) fabricated with 0.13-
$\mu \text{m}$
CMOS technology for fifth-generation (5G) and radar applications. Asymmetrical magnetically coupled resonators (MCRs) are used input, inter-stage and output matching networks to extend the operating bandwidth. Analytic expressions for the asymmetrical MCRs matching network are presented for design guidelines. Two new mismatch parameters
$\alpha $
and
$\beta $
are proposed to provide an additional design degree of leveling off gain ripples due to the transformer loss. The measurement results demonstrate 30.4% peak power added efficiency (PAEmax), 15.7 dBm saturated output power (Psat), and 12.1 dBm compression point (P1dB). The PA shows a flat small gain performance across 22.7 to 27 GHz with 0.3 dB ripple and 1.5 dB
$P_{\mathrm{ sat}}$
ripple. Compared with other works, this PA demonstrates wide bandwidth, high efficiency, and superior gain flatness.