Si and SiGe millimeter-wave integrated circuits (original) (raw)

Low-cost circuit solutions for micro- and millimeter-wave systems using commercially available SiGe technologies

Applied Surface Science, 2004

Increased use of wireless technologies for communications and sensing results in spectral overcrowding in the lower GHz range. Spectrum allocations in the upper microwave and in the millimeter-wave ranges are available, yet realizing low-cost circuits, e.g. for the 24 GHz ISM band remains a challenge. We are investigating the use of two Si/SiGe hetero-junction bipolar transistor technologies at Atmel Germany (the commercially available SiGe1 and the emerging SiGe2 processes), combined with compact circuit design and back-end micromachining techniques, for the realization of cost-efficient RF frontend solutions at frequencies above 20 GHz. Results presented here include a fully monolithic receiver IC for 24 GHz, and a 33 GHz oscillator module combined with a thin-film antenna structure using wafer-level integration.

Millimeterwave silicon devices

Vacuum, 1990

Silicon as a base material for monofithic integrated millimeter wave circuits for frequencies up to and above IOOGHz is discussed, and the design and experimental results of different millimeterwave integrated circuits are presented. The circuits were fabricated either in monolithic silicon technology or in a hybrid silicon technology. However, the hybrid silicon circuits are also completely based upon silicon technology and may be considered as a step towards the complete monolithic integration. With hybrid planar silicon IMPA TT oscillations above 70 GHz, a cw output power of 200 mW has been achieved. A monolithic 93 GHz receiver with a planar 36 element antenna on a 5.4 x5.6 mm 2 silicon substrate has a sensitivity of 65 #V cm21~W-1

SiGe bipolar transceiver circuits operating at 60 GHz

Solid-State Circuits, …, 2005

A low-noise amplifier, direct-conversion quadrature mixer, power amplifier, and voltage-controlled oscillators have been implemented in a 0.12-m, 200-GHz T 290-GHz MAX SiGe bipolar technology for operation at 60 GHz. At 61.5 GHz, the two-stage LNA achieves 4.5-dB NF, 15-dB gain, consuming 6 mA from 1.8 V. This is the first known demonstration of a silicon LNA at V-band. The downconverter consists of a preamplifier, I/Q double-balanced mixers, a frequency tripler, and a quadrature generator, and is again the first known demonstration of silicon active mixers at V-band. At 60 GHz, the downconverter gain is 18.6 dB and the NF is 13.3 dB, and the circuit consumes 55 mA from 2.7 V, while the output buffers consume an additional 52 mA.

Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Transceivers in SiGe BiCMOS Technologies

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques

This invited paper reviews the progress of silicon-germanium (SiGe) bipolar-complementary metal-oxidesemiconductor (BiCMOS) technology-based integrated circuits (ICs) during the last two decades. Focus is set on various transceiver (TRX) realizations in the millimeter-wave range from 60 GHz and at terahertz (THz) frequencies above 300 GHz. This article discusses the development of SiGe technologies and ICs with the latter focusing on the commercially most important applications of radar and beyond 5G wireless communications. A variety of examples ranging from 77-GHz automotive radar to THz sensing as well as the beginnings of 60-GHz wireless communication up to THz chipsets for 100-Gb/s data transmission are recapitulated. This article closes with an outlook on emerging fields of research for future advancement of SiGe TRX performance.

Silicon-Monolithic Integratedmillimeterwave Circuits for Vehicular Technology

2005

Within the next decade intelligent millimeterwave radar systems for vehicular sensor applications in the frequency band from 77 GHz to 81 GHz will be developed in Germany. State of the art in passive and active components of monolithic integrated silicon millimeterwave systems is discussed and the data of already realized components are presented.

A 70–90-GHz High-Linearity Multi-Band Quadrature Receiver in hbox0.35−muhboxm{\hbox{0.35-}}\mu{\hbox {m}}hbox0.35muhboxm SiGe Technology

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2013

An integrated frequency agile quadrature-band receiver is presented in this paper. The complete receiver is realized in a commercial m SiGe:C technology with an of 170/250 GHz. The receiver covers the two point-to-point communication bands from 71 to 76 GHz and from 81 to 86 GHz and the automotive radar band at 77 GHz. A wide tuning range modified Colpitts oscillator provides a local oscillator (LO) tuning range 30. A two-stage constant phase RC polyphase network is implemented to provide wideband in-phase quadrature LO signals. The measured phase imbalance of the network stays below 8 over the receiver's frequency range. In addition the chip includes a wideband low-noise amplifier, Wilkinson power divider, down conversion mixers, and frequency prescaler. Each of the chip's receiver I/Q paths shows a measured conversion gain above 19 dB and an input referred 1-dB compression point of 22 dBm. The receiver's measured noise figure stays below 11 dB over the complete frequency range. Furthermore, the receiver has a measured IF bandwidth of 6 GHz. The complete chip including prescaler draws a current of 230 mA from a 3.3-V supply, and consumes a chip area of 1628 m 1528 m. Index Terms-band, low-noise amplifier (LNA), polyphase, quadrature generation, voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), wideband receiver. I. INTRODUCTION A RAPID growth can be observed in the field of millimeterwave circuits and systems, which is closely related to the ongoing evolution in silicon technology. There are several important applications allocated within the-band, including short-range wireless high-definition (HD) video transmission and industrial radar [1] at 60-GHz last-mile wireless point-topoint high data-rate communication at the two bands of (lower) Manuscript

High-performance W-band SiGe RFICs for passive millimeter-wave imaging

2009

A W-band square-law detector was implemented in a commercial SiGe 0.12μm BiCMOS process (IBM8HP, f t = 200 GHz) and was integrated with a SiGe LNA and SPDT switch. The combined LNA+Detector is 0.26 mm 2 , achieves a peak responsivity of ~4 MV/W at 94 GHz with a minimum NEP < 0.02 pW/Hz 1/2 , and consumes 29 mA from a 1.2 V supply. A low-loss W-band SPDT is also integrated on some designs for an internal 50 Ω reference. The chip can achieve a temperature resolution of 0.3-0.4 K with a 30 ms integration time and ~ 20 GHz bandwidth. This represents, to our knowledge, the first W-band SiGe passive mm-wave imaging chip with state-of-the-art temperature sensitivity.

High-frequency SiGe MMICs - an Industrial Perspective (Invited)

After a brief discussion of the recent development of SiGe HBT technology, the state-of- the-art achievement of the technology in circuits implementation is reviewed from an applied perspective, focusing on microwave and mm-wave applications. In particular, the performance of SiGe HBT-based oscillator and receiver front-end ICs are presented and relevant industry issues are addressed.