Radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) has aroused a lot of interests in recent years and the emphasis is currently placed on the development of low-cost low-power high-performance communication ICs. As a result, CMOS technology is believed to be the optimum choice for monolithic RFIC as many CMOS IF and baseband circuits are already available. However, some RF CMOS building blocks such as frequency synthesizer and power amplifier still have unsatisfactory performance compared with the other silicon technology - BJT. Therefore, BiCMOS process can provide a better choice for the implementation of RFIC....[ Read more ]

Radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) has aroused a lot of interests in recent years and the emphasis is currently placed on the development of low-cost low-power high-performance communication ICs. As a result, CMOS technology is believed to be the optimum choice for monolithic RFIC as many CMOS IF and baseband circuits are already available. However, some RF CMOS building blocks such as frequency synthesizer and power amplifier still have unsatisfactory performance compared with the other silicon technology - BJT. Therefore, BiCMOS process can provide a better choice for the implementation of RFIC.

This thesis is concerned with the design of RF monolithic power amplifier using an existing bulk BiCMOS technology. Different classes of power amplifiers operating at 900MHz have been investigated and design issues of power amplifiers are also included. Moreover, usage of monolithic inductor in the output stage of power amplifier is explored. Finally, a BiCMOS power amplifier with fully integrated output tuned circuit is fabricated which is suitable for indoor cordless phone application.