Large-signal characterization and modeling of a silicon bipolar technology for high-efficiency power applications up to C-band

This paper presents the large-signal characterization and modeling of a 0.8-μm 46-GHz-f_T silicon bipolar technology for RF power applications up to C-band. A set of devices with optimized layout and vertical structure was fabricated for on-wafer load-pull testing at 1.9 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.2 GHz. Under continuous-wave operation, a 56% power-added efficiency and 11-dB large-signal gain were achieved at a 22-dBm output power level by an 80-μm emitter length device (180-μm² emitter area) operating at 5.2 GHz with a 2.7-V supply voltage. A modified Gummel-Poon model was extracted from DC and multibias S-parameter measurements and validated by comparison with load-pull results. A close agreement was found between simulated and measured large-signal performance up to power levels well above the 1-dB compression point.