A 140 GHz T/R Front-End Module in 22 nm FD-SOI CMOS

This paper presents a D-band front-end module (FEM) with an integrated transmit/receive (T/R) switch in 22-nm fully-depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) CMOS technology for beyond-5G communication. The asymmetric T/R switch topology with intrinsic ESD protection leverages the Tx- and Rx-mode RF performance. Both the PA and LNA have a differential topology with transformer-based matching networks to eliminate unwanted effects from common-mode parasitics, especially at the antenna port. The adopted stacked-FET PA achieves a high output power while consuming much less area than a PA based on passive power combining. At 140 GHz, the Tx achieves a power gain $G_{p}$ of 33.6 / 35.7 dB, a saturated output power Psat of 12.5 / 14.7 dBm, a peak power-added efficiency PAE of 10.8 / 11.3%, and output 1-dB compression point (OP1dB) of 9.4 / 11.2 dBm with nominal/boosted supplies. At 140 GHz, the Rx achieves a 20-dB $G_{p}$, a -24-dBm input 1-dB compression point (IP1dB), and a 9.2-dB noise figure (NF) with only 20-mW power consumption from a 0.8-V supply. This compact FEM has a PA / LNA core area of 0.024 / 0.032 mm2, respectively.