A THz signal source with integrated antenna for non-destructive testing in 28nm bulk CMOS

This work presents two fully integrated above-fmax signal sources (570GHz and 600GHz) with on-chip antenna, implemented in a 28nm bulk CMOS technology. A VCO generates a signal at the fundamental frequency, which drives a non-linear amplifier to generate the wanted third harmonic above. The above-fmax third harmonic signal is coupled directly to a folded dipole antenna (570GHz, -34.3dBm EIRP) or to a collinear dipole antenna through a transformer (600GHz, -43dBm EIRP). Both sources provide a wide tuning range and 3dB output power bandwidth while maintaining a compact layout footprint. These are the highest reported fully integrated signal sources in bulk CMOS with on-chip antennas and used as transmitters in a THz imaging setup for non-destructive quality control.