A 71–77-GHz Switch-Based Single-Chip Front End in 0.13-μm GaN Technology

This letter reports a 71–77-GHz E-band single-chip front end (SCFE) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) designed and implemented in a 0.13- $\mu \text{m}$ gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) process. The SCFE successfully integrates a four-stage power amplifier (PA), a five-stage low noise amplifier (LNA), and a single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch in a single chip, which operates over the 71–77-GHz bandwidth. In the transmitting mode, the measured small-signal gain is 19.0–20.2 dB and the saturated output power is 30.6–31.5 dBm. In the receiving mode, the measured gain and noise figure are 18.0–20.0 and 4.7–5.5 dB, respectively. The chip size is $4.3\times2.5$ mm ² . To the best of the author's knowledge, it is the first published report on the E-band GaN-based SCFE, which achieves more than 1-W output power.