Design of W-band coplanar waveguide power amplifier in 0.1μm Gallium arsenide process

<p>The widespread use of modern technologies is fueling demand for faster, more efficient and greater capacity wireless networks for which the millimeter-wave frequency range such as W-band (75-110 GHz) is explored. There are several design challenges in W-band like substantial path loss, atmospheric interference, and poor obstacle penetration. Therefore, at W-band a power amplifier (PA) will play an important role in determining the distance of signal travel. Some microstrip W-band PAs are reported in the literature. However, only a few coplanar waveguide (CPW) based PAs are available in the literature, although in general CPW technique has certain advantages over microstrip lines at high frequencies such as W-band. In this thesis, a W-band CPW amplifier design is targeted. It is noted that the ground planes occupy a large area. To make the size compact, different layout options are explored. A simple CPW line is studied in HFSS. Then different layouts of a simple CPW FET and a Cascode unit cell are investigated in AWR to reduce the circuit size. Finally, a compact CPW amplifier design is presented and its suitability for the W-band application is determined. The designs are implemented in WIN Semiconductor’s 0.1 μm Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) process codenamed PP10-20.</p>