A CMOS distributed amplifier with active input balun using GBW and linearity enhancing techniques

Abstract

A CMOS highly linear 818GHz-GBW distributed amplifier (DA) with distributed active input balun is presented. Each gm cell within the DA employs dual-output 2-stage gm topology that improves gain and linearity without adversely affecting bandwidth and power. Fabricated in a 65nm LP CMOS process, the 0.9mm2 DA achieves 22dB of gain and 10dBm of P1dB while consuming 97mW from a 1.3V supply. A distributed balun using the same gm cell achieves >70GHz bandwidth and 4dB gain with 19.5mW power consumption from 1.3V supply.