A 234-261-GHz 55-nm SiGe BiCMOS Signal Source with 5.4-7.2 dBm Output Power, 1.3% DC-to-RF Efficiency, and 1-GHz Divided-Down Output

作者：Shopov Stefan^*; Balteanu Andreea; Hasch Juergen; Chevalier Pascal; Cathelin Andreia; Voinigescu Sorin P

来源：IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, 2016, 51(9): 2054-2065.

DOI：10.1109/JSSC.2016.2560198

• Divider
• frequency doubler
• J-band circuit
• mm-wave circuits
• MOS-HBT cascode
• SiGe BiCMOS
• signal source
• VCO

A 234-261-GHz signal source with record 7.2-dBm output power at 240 GHz and -105 dBc/Hz phase noise at 10-MHz offset is reported. Fabricated in a production 55-nm SiGe BiCMOS process with HBT fT/fMAX of 330/350 GHz, the circuit includes a 120-GHz fundamental frequency VCO with 1.2-V AMOS varactors, a broadband MOS-HBT cascode LO tree driving a divide-by-128 chain, and a doubler with a record drain efficiency of 11.9%. The total power consumption of the signal source is 386 mW resulting in a DC-to-RF efficiency of 1.3%. A detailed discussion of the candidate LO-tree and doubler topologies and of the design methodology, which capitalizes on the MOS-HBT cascode and unique features of the 55-nm SiGe BiCMOS process, is provided.

• 出版日期2016-9