W/D-Bands single-chip systems in a 0.13μm SiGe BiCMOS technology-dicke radiometer, and frequency extension module for VNAs

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1817037 (Table of Contents)

Recent advances in silicon-based process technologies have enabled to build low-cost and fully-integrated single-chip millimeter-wave systems with a competitive, sometimes even better, performance with respect to III-V counterparts. As a result of these developments and the increasing demand for the applications in the millimeter-wave frequency range, there is a growing research interest in the field of the design and implementation of the millimeter-wave systems in the recent years. In this thesis, we present two single-chip D-band front-end receivers for passive imaging systems and a single-chip W-band frequency extension module for VNAs, which are implemented in IHP’s 0.13μm SiGe BiCMOS technology, SG13G2, featuring HBTs with ft/fmax of 300GHz/500GHz. First, the designs, implementations, and measurement results of the sub-blocks of the radiometers, which are SPDT switch, low-noise amplifier (LNA), and power detector, are presented. Then, the implementation and experimental test results of the total power and Dicke radiometers are demonstrated. The total power radiometer has a noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of 0.11K, assuming an external calibration technique. In addition, the dependence of the NETD of the total power radiometer upon the gain-fluctuation is demonstrated. The NETD of the total power radiometer is 1.3K assuming a gain-fluctuation of %0.1. The front-end receiver of the total power radiometer occupies an area of 1.3 mm2. The Dicke radiometer achieves an NETD of 0.13K, for a Dicke switching of 10 kHz, and its total chip area is about 1.7 mm2. The quiescent power consumptions of the total power and Dicke radiometers are 28.5 mW and 33.8 mW, respectively. The implemented radiometers show the lowest NETD in the literature and the Dicke switching concept is employed for the first time beyond 100 GHz. Second, we present the design methodologies, implementation methods, and results of the sub-blocks of the frequency extension module, such as down-conversion mixer, frequency quadrupler, buffer amplifier, Wilkinson power divider, and dual-directional coupler. Later, the implementation, characterization and experimental test results of the single-chip frequency extension module are demonstrated. The frequency extension module has a dynamic range of about 110 dB, for an IF resolution bandwidth of 10 Hz, with an output power which varies between -4.25 dBm and -0.3 dBm over the W-band. It has an input referred 1-dB compression point of about 1.9 dBm. The directivity of the frequency extension module is better than 10 dB along the entire W-band, and its maximum value is approximately 23 dB at around 75.5 GHz. Finally, the measured s-parameters of a W-band horn-antenna, which are performed by either the designed frequency extension module and a commercial one, are compared. This study is the first demonstration of a single-chip frequency extension module in a silicon-based semiconductor technology.