A 7.7-mW DC-to-62 GHz Ultra-Wideband Low-Noise Amplifier with ±2.1 ps Group Delay Variation and 3.3 dB NF in 0.13-μm SiGe:C BiCMOS

A low-power ultra-wideband (UWB) low-noise amplifier (LNA) implemented in a $0.13 \mu \mathrm{~m}$ SiGe:C BiCMOS technology with $300 / 500 \mathrm{GHz} f_{\mathrm{T}} / f_{\max }$ is presented. The LNA achieves a measured DC gain of 11.2 dB with a 3 dB bandwidth $\left(\mathrm{BW}_{3 \mathrm{~dB}}\right)$ from DC to $\mathbf{6 2} \mathbf{~ G H z}$ and a noise figure (NF) of $\lt3.5 \mathrm{~dB}$ while consuming only 7.7 mW. The measured $\mathrm{IP}_{1 \mathrm{~dB}} / \mathrm{OP}_{1 \mathrm{~dB}}$ at 20 GHz and 40 GHz is $-11 /-1 \mathrm{dBm}$ and $-12.5 /-2.4 \mathrm{dBm}$, respectively. In addition, the measured average group delay (GD) is 6.1 ps with a corresponding GD variation $(\Delta \tau)$ of ±2.1ps within the $\mathrm{BW}_{3 \mathrm{~dB}}$, demonstrating an excellent phase linearity. The overall chip area is $300 \mu \mathrm{~m} \times 310 \mu \mathrm{~m}$. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this general-purpose UWB LNA achieves the best FoMs with a very low power consumption and an excellent NF among prior published silicon-based wideband amplifiers for both wireless and wireline applications to date.