Low noise amplifier with integrated balanced antenna for 60 GHz wireless communications

Jian Zhang, George Goussetis, Laurence Richard, Guochi Huang, Vincent Fusco, Franz Dielacher

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The implementation of a dipole antenna co-designed and monolithically integrated with a low noise amplifier (LNA) on low resistivity Si substrate (20 Ω . cm) manufactured in 0.35 μm commercial SiGe HBT process with f T/fmax of 170 GHz and 250 GHz is investigated theoretically and experimentally. An air gap is introduced between the chip and a reflective ground plane, leading to substantial improvements in efficiency and gain. Moreover, conjugate matching conditions between the antenna and the LNA are exploited, enhancing power transfer between without any additional matching circuit. A prototype is fabricated and tested to validate the performance. The measured 10-dB gain of the standalone LNA is centered at 58 GHz with a die size of 0.7 mm $\times$ 0.6 mm including all pads. The simulated results showed antenna directivity of 5.1 dBi with efficiency higher than 70%. After optimization, the co-designed LNA-Antenna chip with a die size of 3 mm × 2.8 mm was characterized in anechoic chamber environment. A maximum gain of higher than 12 dB was obtained.

Original languageEnglish
Article number6774466
Pages (from-to)3407-3411
Number of pages5
JournalIEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
Volume62
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Keywords

  • Dipole antenna
  • low noise amplifier
  • MMIC antenna co- design
  • SiGe HBT

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