60GHz power amplifier with distributed active transformer and local feedback

A 52-61 GHz power amplifier (PA) is implemented in 65nm CMOS bulk technology. The distributed active transformer (DAT) combines the output power from two unit PAs and achieves a peak output power of 14.8 dBm. Each unit PA uses two-stage differential cascode topology. This PA achieves a peak power gain of 10.2 dB with 10.8 dBm 1-dB compression output power (OP_1dB) and a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 7.2%. The transformer based passives enable a compact active area of 0.3mm². This PA consumes a quiescent current of 143mA from a 1.6V supply voltage. Thanks to the linearization of last stage, the OP_1dB can be further improved to 11.8 dBm when the driver´s supply voltage increases to 2.2V.