F-band frequency octupler in 0.13-μm SiGe:C BiCMOS with 2 mW output power

This paper presents design, implementation and measurement results of a high performance F-band frequency octupler (multiplier by eight) implemented in a 0.13-μm SiGe:C BiCMOS process. The multiplier cascades three Gilbert squarers with tuned loads. The realized chip incorporates an active balun together with a Limiting Amplifier (LA) at the input of the multiplier and a 140 GHz differential Power Amplifier (PA) designed to improve output balance. Full operational bandwidth of 20 GHz and maximum output power of 3 dBm is achieved for input power as low as -23 dBm while consuming 178 mW of DC power. The output power can be adjusted from -5 to 3 dBm. Suppression of undesired harmonic tones within the covered band is also adjustable and can be better than 25 dB. To the best of authors´ knowledge, this is the first demonstration of this approach applied in this frequency range.