Stacked-FET CMOS Power Amplifier for mm-Wave and Sub-THz Applications

In mm-wave and sub-THz systems, power amplifiers (PAs) play a crucial role in delivering high output power while minimizing power consumption to meet the overall system link budget and performance. However, designing PAs using CMOS has been challenging due to its low maximum gain and supply voltage of near 1.0V. In the presentation, we present a study on PAs using stacked-FET structures in CMOS with a focus. Furthermore, design considerations and strategies for high-power, high-efficiency power amplifiers in the sub-THz band are discussed.