SiGe BiCMOS power amplifiers for 60GHz ISM band applications

This paper describes design and analysis of two SiGe BiCMOS power amplifiers for 60GHz ISM band applications. The presented two-stage and three-stage power amplifier employ single-ended topology with transistors in common-emitter configuration, except that the three-stage power amplifier uses a cascade structure in the input stage for better input/output isolation. Drawn 37.8mw from 1.8V supply, the two-stage power amplifier is able to deliver 7.2dBm output power, 13.5dB power gain and 11.9% PAE at its 1dB compression point. A saturated power of 8.6dBm can be achieved. With a power consumption of 46.8mW from 1.8V supply, the three-stage power amplifier offers a power gain of 22.5dB, 5.5dBm output power and 7.6% PAE at its 1dB compression point. The two-stage and three-stage power amplifier occupy a silicon area of 880 × 580 μm
²
and 1180 × 580 μm
²
, respectively. The simulation results show that the two designs can be fully adopted in 60GHz ISM band applications. The presented power amplifiers have a f
_T
/f
_max
= 200/200 GHz and a break-down voltage BV
_CEO
°f 1.9V, based on Tower Jazz Semiconductor's 0.18μm SiGe BiCMOS process.