Cascode MOSFET-MESFET RF power amplifier on 150nm SOI CMOS technology

Metal-semiconductor-field-effect-transistors (MESFETs) have been fabricated using a 150 nm partially depleted silicon-on-insulator CMOS technology. A peak f_T of 40 GHz and peak breakdown voltages of up to 12V were measured. Comparatively, the CMOS transistors on the same process have a maximum steady-state voltage limit of 1.95V. TOM3 model for MESFET developed in ADS. The demonstrated high cut-off frequency and high voltage operation capability make the SOI MESFET a good device candidate for integrated radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PA). A cascoded MOS-MES RF PA architecture is proposed and simulated in ADS using the TOM3 model. Simulation results show 75% PAE while delivering 24dBm output power.