A 76.5-92.6 GHz CMOS LNA Using Two-Port kQ-Product Theory for Transformer Design

Journal article (2022)

Authors

Youming Zhang Southeast University
Zhennan Wei Southeast University
Xusheng Tang Southeast University
L. Zhang Electronics - EEMCS , Southeast University
Fengyi Huang Southeast University
Research Group
Electronics (EEMCS) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2022 Youming Zhang, Zhennan Wei, Xusheng Tang, L. Zhang, Fengyi Huang
DOI
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https://doi.org/10.1109/LMWC.2022.3170929
Transformers Transformer Low-noise amplifier Windings Noise measurement Couplings Semiconductor device measurement Baluns Gain KQ-product Millimeter-wave (mmWave) W-band.
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Published Date

2022

Language

English

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Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Department

Microelectronics

Research Group

Electronics

Abstract

This letter presents a convenient approach based on the two-port kQ-product theory to analyze the influence of interwinding capacitive coupling on the efficiency of the transformer. It is demonstrated that a transformer with proper size can benefit from the interwinding capacitive coupling to maximize its efficiency at a desired frequency. The proposed design approach is used in a W-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) fabricated with the 40-nm CMOS process to optimize the insertion loss of the input transformer-based balun. Thanks to the approach, the W-band LNA achieves a minimum noise figure of 5.7 dB, a maximum gain of 18.5 dB, and a 3-dB bandwidth of 76.5-92.6 GHz, while consuming 23.4 mW from a 0.9-V supply.