A 0.1–1.5GHz dual-mode Class-AB/Class-F power amplifier in 65nm CMOS

A 65nm 0.1-1.5GHz dual-mode Class-AB/Class-F CMOS power amplifier (PA) for industry-specialized multi-standard applications is presented. The proposed Class-AB/Class-F PA consists of a driver stage, a power stage and the output load network. In order to achieve highly efficient and linear reconfigurable operations, an open-circuited third harmonic resonator as well as the optimized matching is employed in the output load. With a power supply of 2.5V, the proposed PA in Class-AB mode achieves a power-added efficiency (PAE) > 25% and an output power > 19.5dBm over 0.1-1.5GHz. Compared with the traditional Class-AB PA, the output power and harmonic rejection performance are improved. The PA in Class-F mode has a maximum output power of 24.2dBm and a peak PAE of 64% within the same band. The presented dual-mode Class-AB/Class-F PA enables the highly-integrated multi-standard transmitters.