Keynote address II Towards sub-millimeter wave CMOS circuits

Recent advancement in CMOS E-band (V-band: 50-75 GHz + W-band: 75-110 GHz) circuit design, coupled with the deployment of high-k, metal gate (HkMG) and third-generation of strain engineering in 45 nm technology node, has opened up a huge opportunity for developing sub-millimeter wave systems based solely on CMOS technology. For example, at 45 nm CMOS node, device fT can already reach 400 GHz. Besides the intrinsically large bandwidth accompanied with high carrier frequency: with 60 GHz radio the data rate can be as high as 4 Gbps, mmW or submmW has narrow beam width and hence is suitable for security communication in space missions. Other applications include high-resolution sensors and portable imaging devices. This talk will review the progress in CMOS mmW (30-300 GHz) circuit design and especially focus on 60 GHz radio for short-distance (10 m) and high data-rate wireless transmission. The details of 45 nm CMOS technology, which enables the sub-mmW circuits, will be described. Various circuit topologies in realizing mmW/sub-mmW front-end blocks will be introduced. Challenges in noise reduction, alleviation of substrate coupling, and control of radiation, etc. will be addressed. Finally, as requirement for radio systems, issues such as antennas and packaging are to be discussed briefly.