A 77 GHz (W-band) SiGe LNA with a 6.2 dB Noise Figure and Gain Adjustable to 33 dB

This paper presents a state-off the art low-noise SiGe-amplifier (LNA) for the frequency range from 75 up to 85 GHz integrated in a 0.18mum BiCMOS technology (John et al., 2002 and 2006). The LNA shows noise figures of about 6.2 dB at 77 GHz and simultaneously extremely high gain adjustable from nearly 0 dB up to 33 dB at 77 GHz. The possibility to fully disable the LNA completes the functionality of the presented circuit. To the knowledge of the author this combination demonstrates the best performance in noise and gain ever reported for a commercial BiCMOS process (Floyd, 2004 and 2005). Microstrip transmission lines in combination with integrated MIM capacitors are used as matching elements. The SiGe(C)-HBT demonstrates a typical maximum f
_T
and f
_max
performance of approx. 200 GHz, respectively