A d-band SPDT switch utilizing reverse-saturated SiGe HBTs for dicke-radiometers

This paper presents a low insertion loss and high isolation D-band (110-170 GHz) single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch utilizing reverse-saturated SiGe HBTs for Dicke-radiometers. The SPDT switch design is based on the quarter wave shunt switch topology and implemented with further optimizations to improve the overall insertion loss and decrease the total chip size in a commercial 0.13-mu m SiGe BiCMOS technology. Measurement results of the implemented SPDT switch show a minimum insertion loss of 2.6 dB at 125 GHz and a maximum isolation of 30 dB at 151 GHz while the measured input and output return loss is greater than 10 dB across 110-170 GHz. Total power consumption of the SPDT switch is 5.3 mW while draining 5.6 mA from a 0.95 V DC supply. Overall chip size is only 0.5 x 0.32 = 0.16 mm(2), excluding the RF and DC pads

A 6-bit vector-sum phase shifter with a decoder based control circuit for x-band phased-arrays

This letter presents a 6-bit vector-sum phase shifter with a novel control circuitry for X-band phased-arrays using a 0.25-m SiGe BiCMOS technology. A balanced active balun and highly accurate I/Q network are employed to generate the reference in-phase and quadrature vectors. The desired phase is synthesized by modulating and summing the generated reference vectors using current steering VGAs that are controlled by a decoder based control circuit. The phase shifter resulted in a measured RMS phase error <2.8 between 9.6-11.7 GHz and <5.6 between 8.2-12 GHz, achieving 6-bit phase resolution. The chip size is 1.870.88 mm2, excluding pads. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a digitally controlled 6-bit vector-sum phase shifter for X-band

A 5-13 GHz 6-Bit vector-sum phase shifter with+3.5 dBm IP1dB in 0.25-mu m SiGe BiCMOS

This paper presents a wideband vector-sum phase shifter (VSPS) with high phase resolution and high input-referered 1 dB compression point (IP1dB) which covers the full 360 degrees phase range with 5.6 degrees phase steps between 5-13 GHz in a commercial 0.25-mu m SiGe BiCMOS technology. A transformer balun and an RC polyphase filter (PPF) are implemented for inphase and quadrature phase (I/Q) reference vector generation while the desired phase states are generated by an adder stage where the amplitudes of the I/Q reference vectors are manipulated with digitally controlled variable gain amplifiers (VGAs). The measured root mean square (RMS) phase error of the VSPS is 7.8 dB. Thus, the VSPS achieves 6-bit phase resolution. IP1dB for the 1st state of the VSPS at 10 GHz is measured to be +3.5 dBm. Overall chip size of the VSPS IC is only 1.22x0.59 = 0.71 mm(2), excluding the RF and the DC pads

High responsivity power detectors for W/D-bands passive imaging systems in 0.13 mu m SiGe BiCMOS technology

This paper presents the design, implementation and measurement results of power detectors (PDs) operating at W-band and D-band. Two detectors are designed and fabricated in 0.13μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The measured minimum NEPs are 0.43 and 4.2 pW/Hz 1/2 , and the peak responsivities are 772 and 132 kV/W for the W-band and D-band power detectors, respectively. Both the PDs have wideband input matching to improve the performance over the entire bandwidth and occupy less than 0.37 mm 2 of area. The fabricated chips demonstrate the state-of-the-art responsivity performance to be utilized in W/Dbands radiometer systems

Low-noise amplifiers for w-band and d-band passive imaging systems in SiGe BiCMOS technology

In this paper, two wideband and low power mmwave LNAs implemented in a 0.13μm SiGe BiCMOS technology are presented. The W-band LNA has 22.3 dB peak gain, 17 GHz 3-dB bandwidth (BW) and 8 mW of power consumption whereas the D-Band LNA achieves 25.3 dB peak gain, 44 GHz 3-dB BW while consuming 30 mW of power. Input and output of the LNAs are wideband matched to 50 Ω in their respective frequency bands. Using the measured gains, the effective noise bandwidths are calculated to be 33.8 GHz for the W-band and 58.9 GHz for the Dband LNAs. Measurement results indicate that the LNAs are suitable for low power and wideband radiometer systems

0.13 µm SiGe BiCMOS W&D-Band receivers for passive millimeter-wave imaging applications

Design of millimeter-wave (30-300 GHz) integrated circuits for various applications such as RADAR, wireless communication systems and imaging systems has become an active area of research in recent years. Passive type of imaging systems have the potential to impact several areas including security scanning, concealed weapon detection and topography imaging. Therefore, high performance MMICs capable of operating 100 GHz and beyond will be the key for next generation imaging systems. Process technologies such as CMOS and SiGe BiCMOS have advanced tremendously over the past decades. Especially the SiGe BiCMOS process with HBTs that have ft=fmax values above several hundred GHz, is an excellent option for high performance mm-wave applications due to its comparable performance to III-V technologies while having relatively lower costs. In this thesis, we present W-Band (75-110 GHz) and D-Band (110-170 GHz) radiometer sub-blocks as well as single and dual channel implementations with onchip antennas using IHP's 0.13 µm SiGe BiCMOS technology. In order to keep the Noise Equivalent Temperature Di erence (NETD) of the radiometers below 1 K, low insertion loss SPDT switches, high bandwidth low noise ampli ers (LNA) and high responsivity power detectors have been designed and measured. Dicke Switched and Total Power Radiometer front end receivers have been implemented. For complete integration, on-chip mm-wave antennas that make use of LBE (Local Backside Etching) process are included in the receivers. Also, a single antenna dual channel receiver is proposed and designed that would increase the sensitivity of the radiometer by √2 without increasing the overall die area

A high dynamic range power detector at x-band

This letter presents an X-band power detector in a 0.25-mu m SiGe BiCMOS technology which utilizes a novel technique, cascode configuration with diode connected PMOS load that provides high responsivity, high dynamic range and wide-band input matching for various input powers. This configuration achieves a dynamic range of 52 dB, which is the highest dynamic range for a single stage X-band power detector to the best of author's knowledge. The total chip area is 0.42 mm(2), including pads. Total power consumption is 7.2 mW. Results demonstrate that such a power detector can be used for built-in digital self calibration of X-band front-end circuits

Front-end blocks of a w-band Dicke radiometer in SiGe BiCMOS technology

In this paper, design methodology and measurement results of W-Band Dicke radiometer blocks are presented. The Dicke radiometer blocks are implemented in IHPs 0.13-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. All the implemented blocks, namely the SPDT switch, LNA and the power detector demonstrate the state of the art performance at W-Band. The SPDT has a measured IL of 1.8 dB and 20 dB isolation. The LNA achieves a peak gain of 22.3 dB and 4.2 dB NF and the PD has a NEP better than 0.5 pW/Hz. To achieve the minimum NETD, all the blocks are designed to be as wideband as possible. Using the measurement and simulation results, the achievable NETD of the radiometer is calculated to be better than 0.5 K