A 9-to-13.5 GHz 29.2-dBm-PSAT 44.4%-PAE Power Amplifier Using Extended Cascode Cores and 4-to-1 Folded Transformers in 130-nm CMOS SOI

This paper presents an X-/Ku-band 8-way power amplifier (PA) utilizing extended cascode cores (ECCs) and output 4-to-1 folded transformers (FTs) to obtain high-efficiency/linearity/power density. The ECC introduces a common-gate (CG) transistor with bias-fixed gate on top of conventional cascode, in combination with a well-designed drain voltage waveform distribution across the transistors, which provides a higher voltage gain/output impedance compared to stacked-FET designs. The 4-to-1 FT efficiently combines four-way ECCs with triple-coupled routing, offering low loss and wideband performance due to its high-order bandpass characteristics. Fabricated in SMIC 130-nm CMOS SOI technology, the PA achieves a 3-dB bandwidth from 9.0 to 13.5 GHz, a saturated output power of 29.2 dBm, and a peak power-added efficiency of 44.4%. The core area is 0.697 mm², corresponding to a 1193.3 mW/mm² power density. The PA supports 64-QAM 250 MSym/s signal modulation with 23.5-dBm average output power, demonstrating an EVMrms/ACLR of below −25 dB/−31 dBc.