A 76-81 GHz Variable Gain Power Amplifier in 16 nm FinFET CMOS Technology

This paper presents a power amplifier (PA) in the 76-81 GHz automotive radar band, implemented in an advanced 16 nm FinFET CMOS node. The PA consists of 3 common-source (CS) neutralized differential pairs (NDP) and transformer-based matching networks. The first two stages allow digital gain and current consumption control. The last stage utilizes power combining to boost the output power while adhering to the stringent reliability constraints. The PA delivers a measured saturated output power of 13.2-14 dBm across the 76-81 GHz band. It achieves measured small signal gain in full gain mode of 30.7-32.3 dB in that band and gain tuning range of 33 dB. The PA occupies core area of 460 µm x 150 µm and consumes 130 mA from 0.95 V supply in saturation.