A 60-GHz broadband Gilbert-cell down conversion mixer in a 65-nm CMOS

Abstract

This paper presents a 60 GHz broadband Gilbert-cell down conversion mixer in a 65 nm CMOS. To enhance the mixer gain, bandwidth, and noise performance, an inter-stage inductor is introduced between the switching pair and the transconductance stage. Driven by a 48 GHz 0-dBm LO, the mixer achieves a conversion gain of 14 dB. The measured IF 3dB bandwidth is about 4GHz and the input 1dB compression point is about -10dBm. Besides, simulation results show that the noise figure is lower than 12 dB and the input referred IP3 point is about 2.5 dBm. The mixer draws 11mA (Gilbert-cell) and 21mA (IF buffer) from a 1.2V supply.