A 132–170 GHz high-gain driving amplifier utilizing asymmetric broadside coupled line in 40-nm CMOS

Abstract

This paper presents a driving amplifier (DA) utilizing the proposed asymmetric broadside coupled line. In contrast to conventional coupled line, the balun devised with proposed asymmetric coupled line and enhanced wideband balance compensation technique is utilized, thereby achieving wideband impedance matching and mitigating insertion loss. Additionally, the utilization of the lossy over-neutralization technique substantially enhances the power gain of amplifiers operating in the upper millimeter-wave band (150 GHz–300 GHz). The DA is fabricated utilizing a 40-nm CMOS process without aluminum layers. The fabricated amplifier demonstrates a compact total area of 0.135 mm${}^2$ (0.031 ${\lambda }^2$), with a core area of 0.027 mm${}^2$ (0.0061 ${\lambda }^2$). It achieves a high gain of 19.4 dB, high power of 11.05 dBm, and high power-added efficiency (PAE) of 11.05% at 160 GHz. Moreover, both the 3-dB power gain bandwidth and the 3-dB saturated power bandwidth extend from 132 GHz to 170 GHz, covering a bandwidth of 38 GHz. This configuration underscores the robust performance of the DA in the upper millimeter-wave band.