Thick metal CMOS technology on high resistivity substrate and its application to monolithic L-band CMOS LNAs

Thick metal 0.8 mu m CMOS technology on high resistivity substrate (RF CMOS technology) is demonstrated for the L-band RF IC applications, and we succ essfully implemented it to the monolithic 900 MHz and 1.9 GHz CMOS LNAs for the first time. To enhance the performance of the RF circuits, MOSFET layo ut was optimized for high frequency operation and inductor quality was impr oved by modifying the technology. The fabricated 1.9 GHz LNA shows a gain o f 15.2 dB and a NF of 2.8 dB at DC consumption current of 15 mA that is an excellent noise performance compared with the off-chip matched 1.9 GHz CMOS LNAs. The 900 MHz LNA shows a high gain of 19 dB and NF of 3.2 dB despite of the performance degradation due to the integration of a 26 nH inductor f or input match. The proposed RF CMOS technology is a compatible process for analog CMOS ICs, and the monolithic LNAs employing the technology show a g ood and uniform RF performance in a five inch wafer.