A 4-91-GHz traveling-wave amplifier in a standard 0.12-mum SOI CMOS microprocessor technology

This paper presents five-stage and seven-stage traveling-wave amplifiers (TWA) in a 0.12-mum SOI CMOS technology. The five-stage TWA has a 4-91-GHz bandpass frequency with a gain of 5 dB. The seven-stage TWA has a 5-86-GHz bandpass frequency with a gain of 9 dB. The seven-stage TWA has a measured 18-GHz noise figure, output 1-dB compression point, and output third-order intercept point of 5.5 dB, 10 dBm, and 15.5 dBm, respectively. The power consumption is 90 and 130 mW for the five-stage and seven-stage TWA, respectively, at a voltage power supply of 2.6 V. The chips occupy an area of less than 0.82 and 1 mm for the five-stage and seven-stage TWA, respectively.