E-band transformer-based differential 4-way power-combining amplifier

This article presents the design and implementation of a differential 4-way power-combining amplifier operating at E-band. The proposed 4-way power combiner facilitates short interconnects to the power amplifier (PA) cells, thereby resulting in reduced loss. Simple C-L-C and L-C networks are deployed to compensate inductive loading due to the routing lines that would otherwise introduce mismatch and subsequently increase overall loss. Realized in SiGe technology, the PA prototype delivered 13.2 dBm output-referred 1-dB compression point and 14.3 dBm saturated output power when operated from a single 3.3 V DC supply at 75 GHz. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 56:1764-1770, 2014