A 0.049 mm2 0.5-to-5.8 GHz LNA Achieving a Flat High Gain Based on an Active Inductor and Low Capacitive ESD Protection

This paper introduces a 0.5-5.8 GHz low-noise amplifier (LNA) incorporating a gyrator-C-based active inductor (AI) and an enhanced deep trench isolation (DTI) electrostatic discharge (ESD) diode. Results suggest that AIs exhibit excellent consistency under various process voltage temperatures (PVTs) as well as input powers and the improved DTI diodes reduce parasitic capacitance by an average of 8.5% compared to conventional ones. In terms of circuit design, comprehensive analyses of gain flatness and noise are conducted. Fabricated using a 0.18 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology, the LNA delivers a high S21 of 18.3 ± 0.3 dB, a minimum noise figure of 2.6 dB, and an S11 and S22 of less than -10 dB over the entire frequency band. Operating from a 3.3 V supply voltage with a core area of 0.049 mm², it consumes 10 mA of current.