A Ka-Band Power Amplifier with 22.9 dBm Psat, 22.5 dBm OP1dB and 21% PAE in 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS

This paper presents the design and measurement of a fully integrated Ka-band power amplifier (PA) in 0.13-mu m SiGe BiCMOS process. The PA is designed with two-stage differential cascode structure. Based on the transformer parallel power combining topology, high output power is achieved while maintaining high efficiency. Furthermore, by designing the appropriate transistor bias voltage, the gain curve is upturned and a higher output 1-dB compression point (OP1dB) is obtained. Finally, the proposed PA achieves the measured saturated output power (P-sat) of 22.9 dBm with 21% peak power added efficiency (PAE), and 22.5 dBm OP1(dB). The small-signal gain is 24.9 dB, and 3dB bandwidth is 32-39 GHz. The core chip size without pads is 0.4 mm(2).