Title :
A study of SiGe signal sources in the 220–330 GHz range
Author :
Tomkins, A. ; Dacquay, E. ; Chevalier, P. ; Hasch, J. ; Chantre, A. ; Sautreuil, B. ; Voinigescu, S.P.
Author_Institution :
Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
fDate :
Sept. 30 2012-Oct. 3 2012
Abstract :
This paper investigates fundamental and push-push SiGe HBT voltage-controlled-oscillator topologies with and without doublers, as possible solutions for efficient milliwatt-level, low-noise signal sources at sub-millimeter wave frequencies. A fundamental frequency Colpitts VCO covers the 218-246 GHz range (the highest for SiGe HBTs) with up to -3.6 dBm output power and 0.8% efficiency. A Colpitts-Clapp VCO-doubler shows -1.7 dBm output power around 290 GHz, a record -101 dBc/Hz phase noise at 10 MHz offset, 7.5% tuning range and 0.4% efficiency. These efficiency numbers are 2-4 times higher than those of recently reported 300-GHz SiGe or CMOS sources based on multipliers or free-space power combining.
Keywords :
Ge-Si alloys; bipolar MIMIC; heterojunction bipolar transistors; integrated circuit noise; millimetre wave oscillators; network topology; phase noise; signal sources; voltage-controlled oscillators; Colpitts-Clapp VCO-doubler; SiGe; frequency 220 GHz to 330 GHz; fundamental frequency Colpitts VCO; milliwatt-level low-noise signal sources; phase noise; push-push silicon-germanium HBT voltage-controlled oscillator topologies; silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; Phase noise; Power generation; Power measurement; Silicon germanium; Tuning; Voltage-controlled oscillators; SiliconGermanium heterojunction bipolar transistors; THz circuits; doubler; push-push VCO; voltage-controlled oscillator;
Conference_Titel :
Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting (BCTM), 2012 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Portland, OR
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-3020-6
DOI :
10.1109/BCTM.2012.6352642
