1-V 13-GHz ultra low noise amplifier for system-on-a-chip radiometer in CMOS 90 nm

Abstract

An ultra-low noise amplifier (LNA) of a fully integrated microwave radiometer on silicon at 13 GHz for the civil and environmental safeguard is presented. The LNA represents the front-end stage of the radiometric sensor, which consists of an ultra-low noise receiver characterized by high performance in terms of sensitivity and gain stability. The LNA is realized by means of two cascode stages coupled each other by a transformer-based inter-stage matching network and provides differential outputs from single-ended input signal available from the antenna. The LNA exhibits a noise figure of 1.4 dB, a power gain of 20 dB and a power consumption of 12 mA with a supply voltage of 1 V, which represent one of the best set of performance among those presented in the literature.