A 20–55 GHz Broadband Low-Power Down-conversion Mixer Using 65-nm CMOS Technology

This paper demonstrates a 20-55 GHz broadband low-power down-conversion mixer applies in SC millimeter-wave (MMW) communication using 65-nm CMOS process. The structure of the mixer is a modified Gilbert-cell, which reduces the demand of supply voltage. By using weak inversion biasing, a low DC power consumption and low LO power can be achieved. At the IF output, A resistive -feedback inverter amplifier is used to improve the conversion gain. Marchand balun with compensation line is designed for broadband matching while converting the differential signal and single-ended signal. From 20 to 55 GHz, the proposed mixer achieves conversion gain of -0.37 to 2.41 dB at fixed 2 GHz IF frequency with a -3 dBm LO drive power. At 38 GIL the input 1 -dB compression point is -11.3 dBm. The mixer consuming 7.48 mW from a 1.1V supply voltage. The chip size is 0.135 mm(2) in core and 0.25 mm(2) including all pads.