A transformer-coupled power amplifier in 90-nm CMOS process for V-band applications

In this paper, a three-stage common-source power amplifier (PA) fabricated in the TSMC 90-nm CMOS process technology for V-band applications is presented. The proposed PA adopts the transformer structure to split and combine power and to implement the matching network. The CMOS PA achieves a measured gain of 17.8 dB, and its saturated output power, P
_sat
, is 13.8 dBm at the 10-dBm input power. The measured OP
_1dB
is 13.36 dBm and the peak power added efficiency (PAE) is 16.9%. The chip size of the proposed PA is 1.05 × 0.47 mm
²
, and the power dissipation is 139 mW under a 1.2-V supply voltage.