An 18-GHz 1.95-dB NF 3.6-mW CMOS Low-Noise Amplifier for Satellite Communication Applications

This article presents a Ku-/K-band bulk CMOS low-noise amplifier (LNA) for satellite communication RF front end. A power-constrained simultaneous noise and input matching (PCSNIM) technique is adopted for the first common-source (CS) stage to minimize the noise figure (NF) while maintaining low dc power and good input return loss. The second stage, using a neutralized differential CS configuration, is adopted to increase the gain and stability performance. Utilizing a current-reuse technique, the first CS stage and the second differential CS stage can be stacked and share the current from a single supply to further reduce the power consumption of the LNA. Fabricated in 90-nm CMOS technology, the LNA achieves 1.95-dB minimum NF at 18 GHz with low dc power consumption of 3.6 mW. The maximum small signal gain is 16.2 at 20.5 GHz, and the 3-dB bandwidth (BW) is 6.6 GHz from 15.9 to 22.5 GHz. To the best of our knowledge, the presented Ku-/K-band CMOS LNA has low NF, low dc power, and the highest figure of merit (FoM) among recently published Ku-/K-/Ka-band bulk CMOS LNAs.