access icon free 96 GHz 4.7 mW low-power frequency tripler with 0.5 V supply voltage

Using forward-biased base–collector voltage (V BC) in high-speed circuits is usually not attractive due to the performance degradation compared with biasing heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) in the forward-active region. However, the use of ultra-low supply voltage in millimetre-wave circuits provides an interesting application scenario not only for demonstrating the potential of modern silicon germanium (SiGe) HBT technologies in implementing severely power-constrained wireless circuits on silicon but also for verifying the accuracy of compact models beyond standard characteristics typically measured by foundries. The results of a 96 GHz frequency tripler deliberately designed with a reduced supply voltage (0.5 V) in a 130 nm SiGe HBT technology are presented. With only 4.7 mW DC power consumption, this frequency tripler achieves a conversion loss of 3.8 dB, generating a 96 GHz output signal with only −10 dBm input signal at 32 GHz. The impact of transistor series resistances on the tripler performance is also analysed.

Inspec keywords: heterojunction bipolar transistors; millimetre wave frequency convertors; frequency multipliers; millimetre wave bipolar transistors; Ge-Si alloys; low-power electronics; semiconductor materials

Other keywords: power-constrained wireless circuits; power 4.7 mW; performance degradation; size 130 nm; forward-active region; silicon germanium HBT technologies; conversion loss; low-power frequency tripler; forward-biased base-collector voltage; heterojunction bipolar transistors; voltage 0.5 V; ultra-low supply voltage; high-speed circuits; millimetre-wave circuits; transistor series resistances; loss 3.8 dB; SiGe; DC power consumption; frequency 32 GHz; frequency 96 GHz

Subjects: Convertors; Solid-state microwave circuits and devices; Bipolar transistors

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http://iet.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1049/el.2017.2523
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