| dc.description.abstract | Several microwave and millimeter-wave circuits including a watt-level Ku-band power
amplifier module in Rogers4003C-FR4 based four-layer printed circuit board (PCB) process, a
Ka-band low noise amplifier (LNA) in E-mode GaAs 0.15-µm PIN-HEMT monolithic process,
a Ka-band low noise amplifier (LNA) in 90-nm CMOS process, a switchless radiometer
receiver in 90-nm CMOS process are presented in this thesis.
In Chapter 2, a Ku-band watt-level power amplifier module is designed in a Rogers4003CFR4 based four-layer printed circuit board (PCB) process. The power amplifier module
achieves a maximum small-signal gain of 25 dB with a 3-dB bandwidth ranging from 14.3 to
18.7 GHz. The power amplifier module also achieves an input P1dB of 2 dBm, a peak PAE of
12.3 %, and an output saturated power of 32 dBm. Additionally, the power amplifier module
using the single-bias technique is proposed to reduce the complexity in this Chapter. The power
amplifier module using a single-bias technique maintains approximately the same performance
compared with the power amplifier module with multiple biases.
In Chapter 3, a Ka-band LNA with R-L-C feedback technique in WIN E-mode GaAs 0.15-
µm PIN-HEMT process is presented. By employing cascode structure and the R-L-C feedback
technique, the circuit maintains high gain and wider bandwidth while addressing stability issues.
The LNA achieves a maximum small-signal gain of 22.9 dB at a frequency of 31.2 GHz, and it
achieves a minimum noise figure of 2.7 dB at a frequency of 29 GHz. The LNA also achieves
an input IP3 of -5 dBm, and an output IP3 of 17 dBm. The total chip size of the LNA is 1.05
mm2
.
In Chapter 4, a Ka-band current-reused-transformer-based LNA with forward bodybiasing technique in TSMC GUTM 90-nm CMOS process is presented. A center-tapped
transformer with a mutual coefficient of 0.3 is used to improve small-signal gain and is realized
iv
at the drain in the first stage and the source in the second stage. The LNA achieves a maximum
small-signal gain of 12 dB at a frequency of 25.3 GHz with a 3-dB bandwidth from 22.7 to 30.7
GHz. The LNA achieves a minimum noise figure of 3.5 dB at a frequency of 25 GHz.
Additionally, the forward-body biasing technique is employed to enhance the linearity of the
Ka-band LNA, achieving an input IP3 of 5.1 dBm and an output IP3 of 17.3 dBm at a frequency
of 30 GHz. The total chip size of the LNA is 0.49 mm2
.
In Chapter 5, a switchless radiometer receiver in TSMC GUTM 90-nm CMOS process is
presented. The radiometer consists of a two-stage LNA, an active balun, and a square-law power
detector. The two-stage LNA, acts as a SPDT switch, but eliminates the lossy characteristics of
switches. An active balun is employed due to the requirement of a differential input of the
square-law power detector. The square-law power detector adopts differential structure, which
can achieve higher responsivity compared to the single structure. The two-stage LNA achieves
a maximum small-signal gain of 17.3 dB at a frequency of 30.3 GHz and a minimum noise
figure of 4.3dB at a frequency of 30 GHz in both the signal and the reference path. The
radiometer receiver achieves a maximum responsivity of 1.6 MV/W and a minimum noise
equivalent power of 1.3 fW/√Hz at a frequency of 30 GHz. Additionally, the radiometer receiver
can demodulate a 30 GHz input signal with a switching speed of up to 2 GHz. The total chip
size of the radiometer receiver is 1.24 mm2
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