Design of a 10GHz bandwidth variable gain amplifier using a GaAs HBT technology

Author

Zhou, Lei ; Wu, Danyu ; Wu, Jin ; Jin, Zhi ; Liu, Xinyu

Author_Institution

Inst. of Microelectron., Beijing, China

fYear

2012

fDate

19-20 April 2012

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

This paper reports a fully differential variable gain amplifier (VGA) using GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). Gilbert cells with transimpedance loads are applied to achieve wide bandwidth. According to the single-ended measurements, the 3-dB bandwidth is 10.5GHz at a maximum gain of 22dB. A gain-bandwidth product of 132GHz is achieved. The circuit consists of two cascaded variable gain stages to offer a high dynamic range. The experiment results show the dynamic range is larger than 28dB. The chip consumes 368mV at a supply voltage of -5.2V. Design considerations and experimental results are presented in this paper.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; differential amplifiers; gallium arsenide; heterojunction bipolar transistors; GaAs; GaAs HBT technology; Gilbert cells; bandwidth 10 GHz; bandwidth 10.5 GHz; bandwidth 132 GHz; cascaded variable gain stage; dynamic range; fully differential VGA; gain 22 dB; gain-bandwidth product; heterojunction bipolar transistor; transimpedance load; variable gain amplifier; voltage -5.2 V; voltage 368 mV; Bandwidth; Capacitors; Dynamic range; Gain; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; Microwave circuits; Resistors; Gilbert cells; Variable gain amplifiers; heterojunction bipolar transistors; wideband;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave and Millimeter Wave Circuits and System Technology (MMWCST), 2012 International Workshop on

Conference_Location

Chengdu

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-1893-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MMWCST.2012.6238134

Filename

6238134