A 6.5-kV ESD-Protected 3-5-GHz Ultra-Wideband BiCMOS Low-Noise Amplifier Using Interstage Gain Roll-Off Compensation
 
A 6.5-kV ESD-Protected 3-5-GHz Ultra-Wideband BiCMOS Low-Noise Amplifier Using Interstage Gain Roll-Off Compensation 
 
Mingxu Liu, Mingxu Liu, Jan Craninckx, Jan Craninckx, Mahadeva Iyer Natarajan, Mahadeva Iyer Natarajan, Maarten Kuijk, Maarten Kuijk, Alain Barel, Alain Barel
 
Abstract 

Design and validation of an electrostatic discharge (ESD)-protected ultra-wideband low-noise amplifier (LNA) is presented in this paper. It features an interstage matching network for gain roll-off compensation to achieve a flat gain over its passband. Evaluated with a chip-on-board approach, the amplifier demonstrates a gain of 11.8 ± 0.3 dB, minimum noise figure of 2.1 dB, and a group delay variation of ±30 ps from 3 to 5 GHz, even though it uses a less advanced 0.35- micron BiCMOS technology. The LNA is protected against human body model ESD stress up to 6.5 kV. The measured input third-order intercept point at 4.5 GHz is -5.5 dBm. The core LNA draws 3 mA from a 3-V supply