High-Efficiency SiGe-BiCMOS E-Band Power Amplifiers Exploiting Current Clamping in

Abstract

This paper proposes high-efficiency E-band power amplifiers (PAs) in SiGe-BiCMOS based on a common-base out- put stage. A comparison between common-emitter and common- base configurations proves the latter yields higher output power, enhanced linear range, and robustness against self-heating issues. Furthermore, the base–emitter junction of the BJT in common base can be exploited to implement the current-mode version of the well-known diode voltage clamper, so that the dc cur- rent tracks the signa