A 27dBm Ku-Band SiGe Power Amplifier Working up to 90°C with High Robustness to the 2:1 SWR

This paper presents a compact Ku-Band SiGe cascode power amplifier (PA) with a saturated output power (Psat) higher than 27dBm up to 90°C and a highly robust power combination to the Standing Wave Ratio (SWR). Improved transistor and twisted coupler layout techniques are combined in a balanced architecture. As a proof of concept, the PA was implemented with a 0.13-µm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The measured performances at 18GHz show a Psat of 27.4dBm and 27.1dBm and a peak-PAE of 25.8% and 24.5% at 30°C and 90°C, respectively. With a 2:1 SWR the PAE and Psat drop less than 7.2% and 1.5dB, respectively.