55 research outputs found

    Electromagnetic and small-signal modeling of an encapsulated RF-MEMS switch for D-band applications

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    Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.In this work, an electromagnetic (EM) model and a small-signal (lumped-element) model of a wafer-level encapsulated (WLE) radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF-MEMS) switch is presented. The EM model of the WLE RF-MEMS switch is developed to estimate its RF performance. After the fabrication of the switch, the EM model is used to get accurate S-parameter simulation results. Alternative to the EM model, a small-signal model of the fabricated WLE RF-MEMS switch is developed. The developed model is integrated into a 0.13 µm SiGe BiCMOS process technology design kit for fast simulations and to predict the RF performance of the switch from a pure electrical point of view. The 0.13 µm SiGe BiCMOS embedded WLE RF-MEMS shows beyond state-of-the-art measured RF performances in D-band (110–170 GHz) and provides a high capacitance Con/Coff ratio of 11.1. The results of the both EM model and small-signal model of the switch are in very good agreement with the S-parameter measurements in D-band. The measured maximum isolation of the WLE RF-MEMS switch is 51.6 dB at 142.8 GHz with an insertion loss of 0.65 dB.EC/FP7/288531/EU/Nanostructured materials and RF-MEMS RFIC/MMIC technologies for highly adaptive and reliable RF systems/NANOTE

    Miniature switchable millimeter-wave BiCMOS low-noise amplifier at 120/140 GHz using an HBT switch

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    A 120-140 GHz frequency-switchable, very compact low-noise amplifier (LNA) fabricated in a 0.13 µm SiGe:C BiCMOS technology is proposed. A single radio-frequency (RF) switch composed of three parallel hetero junction bipolar transistors (HBTs) in a common-collector configuration and a multimodal three-line microstrip structure in the input matching network are used to obtain a LNA chip of miniaturized size. A systematic design procedure is applied to obtain a perfectly balanced gain and noise figure in both frequency states (120 GHz and 140 GHz). The measured gain and noise figure are 14.2/14.2 dB and 8.2/8.2 dB at 120/140 GHz respectively, in very good agreement with circuit/electromagnetic co-simulations. The LNA chip and core areas are 0.197 mm2 and 0.091 mm2, respectively, which supposes an area reduction of 23.4% and 15.2% compared to other LNAs reported in this frequency band. The experimental results validate the design procedure and its analysis. © 2019 by the authors

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

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

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    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

    Scanning Microwave Microscopy of Aluminum CMOS Interconnect Lines Buried in Oxide and Water

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    Using a scanning microwave microscope, we imaged in water aluminum interconnect lines buried in aluminum and silicon oxides fabricated through a state-of-the-art 0.13 um SiGe BiCMOS process. The results were compared with that obtained by using atomic force microscopy both in air and water. It was found the images in water was degraded by only approximately 60% from that in air.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures, conferenc

    Gain enhancement of BiCMOS on-chip sub-THz antennas by mean of meta-cells

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    A MM-loaded sub-THz on-chip antenna with a narrow beamwidth, 9 dB gain and a simulated peak efficiency of 76% at the center frequency of 300 GHz is presented. By surrounding the antenna with a single MM-cell ring defined solely on the top metal of the back-end of line, an efficient suppression of the surface waves is obtained. The on-chip antenna has been designed using IHPs 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS technology with a 7-layer metallization stack, combined with the local backside etching process aimed to creating an air cavity which is then terminated by a reflective plane. By comparing the measured MM-loaded antenna performances to its non-MM-loaded counterpart, an enhanced integrity of the main lobe due to the MM-cells shielding effect can be observed. An excellent agreement between the simulated and measured performances has been found, which makes the MM-loaded antennas a valid alternative for the upcoming next-generation sub-THz transceivers

    Development and mechanical modeling of Si1-XGex/Si MQW based uncooled microbolometers in a 130 nm BiCMOS

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    This paper presents the development of process integration and mechanical modeling of a Si1-xGex/Si MQW based uncooled micro-bolometer. The recent progress on layer transfer based integration scheme of Si1-xGex/Si based micro-bolometer into a 130 nm BiCMOS process is presented. The two important parts of the process integration, namely the layer-transfer and stress compensation of the arms are studied. The initial successful results on layer transfer and the FEM modeling for the stress compensation of the thin and narrow arms of the bolometer is presented. Finally, the developed FEM model is compared with the fabricated cantilevers. The results show that the developed FEM model has a very good matching with the experimental results; thus very convenient to use for the FEM modeling of the full bolometer structure
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