A fully-integrated 1.8-V, 2.8-W, 1.9-GHz, CMOS power amplifier

This paper demonstrated the first 2-stage, 2.8W, 1.8V, 1.9GHz fully-integrated DAT power amplifier with 50Ω input and output matching using 0.18μm CMOS transistors. It has a small-signal gain of 27dB. The amplifier provides 2.8W of power into a 50Ω load with a PAE of 50%

Coaxial carbon plasma gun deposition of amorphous carbon films

A unique plasma gun employing coaxial carbon electrodes was used in an attempt to deposit thin films of amorphous diamond-like carbon. A number of different structural, compositional, and electrical characterization techniques were used to characterize these films. These included scanning electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, X ray diffraction and absorption, spectrographic analysis, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and selected area electron diffraction. Optical absorption and electrical resistivity measurements were also performed. The films were determined to be primarily amorphous, with poor adhesion to fused silica substrates. Many inclusions of particulates were found to be present as well. Analysis of these particulates revealed the presence of trace impurities, such as Fe and Cu, which were also found in the graphite electrode material. The electrodes were the source of these impurities. No evidence of diamond-like crystallite structure was found in any of the film samples. Details of the apparatus, experimental procedure, and film characteristics are presented

A 2.4-GHz, 2.2-W, 2-V fully-integrated CMOS circular-geometry active-transformer power amplifier

A 2.4-GHz, 2.2-W, 2-V fully integrated circular geometry power amplifier with 50 Ω input and output matching is fabricated using 2.5V, 0.35 pm CMOS transistors. It can also produce 450mW using a 1V supply. Harmonic suppression is 64dB or better. An on-chip circular-geometry active-transformer is used to combine several push-pull low-voltage amplifiers efficiently to produce a larger output power while maintaining a 50 Ω match. This new on-chip power combining and impedance matching method uses virtual ac grounds and magnetic couplings extensively to eliminate the need for any off-chip component such as wirebonds. It also desensitizes the operation of the amplifier to the inductance of bonding wires and makes the design more reproducible. This new topology makes possible a fully-integrated 2.2W, 2.4GHz, low voltage CMOS power amplifier for the first time

Planar sandwich antennas for submillimeter applications

A planar receiving antenna with a predictable pattern at submillimeter wavelength is demonstrated experimentally for the first time. It is single lobed and efficient, with a gain of approximately 8 dB at a wavelength of 119 µm

The Class-E/F Family of ZVS Switching Amplifiers

A new family of switching amplifiers, each member having some of the features of both class E and inverse F, is introduced. These class-E/F amplifiers have class-E features such as incorporation of the transistor parasitic capacitance into the circuit, exact truly switching time-domain solutions, and allowance for zero-voltage-switching operation. Additionally, some number of harmonics may be tuned in the fashion of inverse class F in order to achieve more desirable voltage and current waveforms for improved performance. Operational waveforms for several implementations are presented, and efficiency estimates are compared to class-E

Distributed active transformer - a new power-combining andimpedance-transformation technique

In this paper, we compare the performance of the newly introduced distributed active transformer (DAT) structure to that of conventional on-chip impedance-transformations methods. Their fundamental power-efficiency limitations in the design of high-power fully integrated amplifiers in standard silicon process technologies are analyzed. The DAT is demonstrated to be an efficient impedance-transformation and power-combining method, which combines several low-voltage push-pull amplifiers in series by magnetic coupling. To demonstrate the validity of the new concept, a 2.4-GHz 1.9-W 2-V fully integrated power-amplifier achieving a power-added efficiency of 41% with 50-Ω input and output matching has been fabricated using 0.35-μm CMOS transistor