A low-noise, high-gain, wide-linear-dynamic-range, wide-band receiver for a pulsed, direct, three-dimensional ranging LADAR system has been designed and implemented in a 0.13 mu m CMOS technology. Specific design techniques, including gain control scheme to widen linear dynamic range, gain allocating between blocks and noise minimization to improve SNR, frequency response compensation to extend bandwidth and ensure system stability, and output voltage swing boosting, have been proposed to achieve challenging design goals with linear dynamic range of 1: 1600, equivalent input-referred current noise of less than 5.6, pA/root Hz high gain of 78 dB Omega, maximum output swing of at least 500 mV, bandwidth of at least 500 MHz, and low sensitivity to temperature variation over the range from -10 degrees C to 60 degrees C, in the presence of 2 pF photodiode parasitic capacitance.