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, J. Craninckx, J. Craninckx, N.m. Iyer, N.m. Iyer, Maarten Kuijk, Maarten Kuijk, Alain Barel, Alain Barel
 
Abstract 

Design and validation of an ESD protected ultra-wideband low noise amplifier 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 (NF) of 2.1 dB, and a group delay variation of ±30 ps from 3 to 5 GHz, even though using a less advanced 0.35-micron BiCMOS technology. Its input, output and power supply are all protected against HBM ESD stress up to 6.5 kV. Measured IIP3 at 4.5 GHz is -5.5 dBm. The core LNA draws 3 mA from a 3-V supply