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ABSTRACT A three-stage 60-GHz power amplifier (PA) has been implemented in a 65 nm Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology. High-quality-factor slow-wave coplanar waveguides (S-CPW) were used for input, output and inter-stage matching networks to improve the performance. Being biased for Class-A operation, the PA exhibits a measured power gain G of 18.3 dB at the working frequency, with a 3-dB bandwidth of 8.5 GHz. The measured 1-dB output compression point (OCP1dB) and the maximum saturated output power Psat are 12 dBm and 14.2 dBm, respectively, with a DC power consumption of 156 mW under 1.2 V voltage supply. The measured peak power added efficiency PAE is 16%. The die area is 0.52 mm2 (875 × 600 μm2) including all the pads, whereas the effective area is only 0.24 mm2. In addition, the performance improvement of the PA in terms of G, OCP1dB, Psat, PAE and the figure of merit using S-CPW instead of thin film microstrip have been demonstrated. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:99-109, 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle of two common base/gate millimeter-wave power detectors is analyzed and validated by experimental results. The detectors have been designed for automatic level control and built-in-test millimeter-wave applications. Closed-form expressions are derived for the transfer characteristic as well as for the noise behavior of each detector. The circuits are fabricated in a BiCMOS 55 nm ( ft/{f\max } = 320 GHz/370 GHz) process from STMicroelectronics. Each detector occupies an area of 80\,\times\, 80 \mu \m^2 and exhibits a relatively high input impedance at 60 GHz. Measurements show a detection dynamic range larger than 38 dB and a flat response over the 50–66 GHz bandwidth, for both detectors. Common-base detector shows a wider linear detection range than that of the common-gate one. Theoretical computation and computer simulation show that, for square-law detection, the minimum detectable input power (for \SNR= \10~dB) is around - \41~dBm for the common-gate detector against - \50~dBm for the common-base one. In their nominal bias conditions, the detectors' power consumption, under 1.2 V supply voltage, is 90 \mu \W for low input power and it increases to about 800 \mu \W for 8.5 dBm input power. These performances are beyond the current state-of-the-art of millimeter-wave detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vertical shrinkage of the advanced CMOS processes thicknesses makes electrostatic discharge (ESD) issues become more significant. RF and millimeter-wave (mm-wave) circuits are very sensitive to the ESD components’ capacitive parasitic effect. Surface area is a key factor as well in an ESD protection circuit for mm-wave applications. This paper presents silicon-verified ESD solutions, which fulfill physical dimensions, ESD robustness, and broadband frequencies requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Novel 3D metal-oxide-metal capacitors for 60 GHz applications in a CMOS 45 nm process are proposed. Relatively high capacitances density of 3 fF/μm and quality factors from 3.2 to 10.2 at 60 GHz are measured. The study is validated up to 110 GHz for different capacitance values. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.26029 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]