A 15-dBm SiGe BiCMOS PA for 77-GHz Automotive Radar

This paper presents a 15-dBm power amplifier for 77-GHz automotive radar applications, which is fabricated in a 0.13-mu m SiGe: C BiCMOS process featuring bipolar transistors with f(T)/f(max) of 230/280 GHz. The circuit consists of a two-stage pseudodifferential cascode with fully integrated input/output matching networks. State-of-art performance is achieved with the proposed design algorithm and layout optimization. The amplifier demonstrates a figure-of-merit of 2500 achieving a 22.5-dB power gain and a power-added efficiency of 7.5% at 77 GHz, while drawing 130 mA from a 2.5-V voltage supply.