A Low-Power 28-nm CMOS FD-SOI Reflection Amplifier for an Active F-Band Reflectarray

A new topology of a low-power F-band reflection amplifier for active reflectarrays is proposed and demonstrated using a CMOS fully depleted silicon-on-insulator 28-nm process. The design enables frequency response and center frequency tuning, as well as phase control of the reflected signal. The chip consumes a core area of only 90 × 80 μm
²
and is incorporated into a 2 × 2 printed reflectarray antenna, implementing the first co-polarized active reflectarray. Such implementation enables, for the first time, active reflectarrays with dual polarization ability, which can be used for full-duplex links, as well as polarization diversity applications. Design considerations for a stable reflection amplifier, as well as measurement results of the reflection amplifier and reflectarray, are presented in this paper. Variable stable gain of 5-25 dB at the frequency range of 106-127 GHz was achieved, with noise figure of 10.5-11.7 dB. The total power consumption was 6-20 mW, depending on the chosen frequency response. An active antenna gain of 28 dBi was measured for the 2 × 2 reflectarray.