| dc.description.abstract | The work in this thesis focuses on broadband amplifiers and V-band RF receiver front-end circuits. The designed circuits include three broadband amplifiers with different topologies and bandwidths, a V-band low noise amplifier, a 27.1 GHz transformer feedback voltage control oscillator, a V-band subharmonic diode mixer and a V-band subharmonic resistive mixer. Those designs were fabricated in WIN 0.15 um pHEMT technology and TSMC 0.18 um CMOS process.
The thesis first addresses the performance and design of three different broadband amplifiers. The 3-55 GHz distributed amplifier made use of a pHEMT cascode gain cell capacitively coupled to the gate line. The circuit has been experimentally verified for its functionality. This circuit achieved a gain of 9.43±2 dB from 1 to 53 GHz, and the input/output return losses of more than 2 dB. The 15-50 GHz distributed amplifier was implemented with two-cascaded three-stage topology and the finite-ground coplanar waveguide for the transmission line design. The measured result showed this circuit had a gain of 10.5±1.2 dB from 13 to 54 GHz, and the input/output return losses of more than 6 dB. The 35-65 GHz broadband amplifier was designed with the four-cascaded single-stage scheme to achieve the high gain in the high frequency. The self-bias architecture was also used for the single positive supply operation. The cascade amplifier exhibited a gain of 13-26 dB in the bandwidth from 28 to 59 GHz, and the input/output return losses of more than 3.92 dB.
The thesis further addresses V-band RF receiver front-end circuits. The V-band three-stage-cascaded LNA architecture was a derivative of the inductive source degenerated topology. The LNA achieved a gain of 24.35 dB at 60 GHz, a noise figure of 3.2 dB, and the input/output return losses of more than 2.58 dB. The 27.1 GHz transformer feedback voltage controlled oscillator utilized the transformer to lower the phase noise. This voltage controlled oscillator obtained a tuning range of 847 MHz, an output power of -15 dBm, and the phase noise of -94 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. The V-band subharmonic diode mixer was based on an antiparallel Schottky diode pair. The design exhibited a 12.075 dB conversion loss at the RF frequency of 60 GHz, the LO frequency of 27.1 GHz, and the IF frequency of 5.8 GHz. The measured input power at the 1-dB gain compression point was 4 dBm, and the input third order inter-modulation intercept point was 15 dBm. The V-band subharmonic resistive mixer achieved a 10.593 dB conversion loss at the RF frequency of 60 GHz, the LO frequency of 27.1 GHz, and the IF frequency of 5.8 GHz. The measured input power at the 1-dB gain compression point was 9 dBm, and the input third order inter-modulation intercept point was 13 dBm.
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