A Packaged Single-Ended K-Band SiGe LNA with 2.14 dB Mean Noise Figure

Abstract

This paper presents a packaged single-ended three-stage K-band low noise amplifier (LNA) using Jazz SBC18H3 SiGe process technology. The LNA consists of three common emitter (CE) stages to achieve a stable packaged amplifier with low noise figure (NF) and high gain. The measured $\mathbf{S}_{\mathbf{21}}$ is 20.3 dB with a 3-dB bandwidth of 7 GHz (14.4 – 21.4 GHz). The measured mean NF is 2.14 dB at 18.4 GHz and it is $< 2.3$ at (17.1-19.7 GHz). At 18 GHz, the measured $\mathbf{IPi}_{\mathbf{1dB}},\mathbf{OP}_{\mathbf{1dB}},\mathbf{IIP}_{3}$, and $\mathbf{OIP}_{3}$ are −23.7, −4.9, −15.3, and 5.1 dBm, respectively. This is achieved at a power consumption of 18-mW. To our knowledge, this represents state-of-the-art packaged K-band LNAs in term of gain, NF, and power consumption in SiGe and CMOS processes.