A 144 GHz power amplifier MMIC with 11dBm output power, 10 dB associated gain and 10 % power-added efficiency

A millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuit power amplifier operating in the frequency range between 135 and 155 GHz is presented. The D-band power amplifier, realized in a 100 nm gate length metamorphic high electron mobility transistor technology, employs a three-stage design with four parallel transistors in the output stage. At 144 GHz and under 1-dB gain compression, the amplifier achieves an output power of more than 11 dBm with an associated gain of 10 dB and a high power-added efficiency of 10%. A comparison to state-of-the-art power amplifiers at high millimeter-wave frequencies is given.