“Visual” Design of K-band Low-Noise Amplifier Using SiGe BiCMOS Technology

The decomposition synthesis method (DSM) and “visual” technique for the exact design of microwave low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) based on ideal passive elements are briefly described. In order to account for the losses in real silicon-based MMIC passive elements, more strict constraints on the amplifier performances are used at each of the design steps. With using these approaches, the design of a 18-25 GHz two-stage 0.25 μm SiGe MMIC LNA is demonstrated with the gain of 20.2±0.7 dB and noise figure of 3.7 dB.