Millimeter-Wave and THz Circuits in 45-nm SOI CMOS

This paper presents low-noise amplifiers (LNA) at 45-95 GHz, a frequency doubler at 180 GHz, active and passive mixers at 130-180 GHz fabricated in 45-nm Semiconductor-On Insulator (SOI) CMOS process for digital and mixed-signal applications. The measured f_t and f_max of a 30×1-μm transistor are 200 GHz at 0.3 mA/μm current density, referenced to the top metal layer. The measured gain and NF of LNAs are 15-11 dB and 3.3-6.0 dB at 45-95 GHz. The balanced doubler results in an output power of 1 mW and 8 dB conversion loss at 180 GHz. Passive double-balanced and active single-balanced mixers achieve conversion loss of 12-13 dB at 130-180 GHz, and 4 dB with 3-dB bandwidth of 145-161 GHz, respectively. This work shows that 45-nm SOI CMOS process results in state-of-the-art performance for millimeter-wave applications.