A 40-nm CMOS Complex Permittivity Sensing Pixel for Material Characterization at Microwave Frequencies

A compact sensing pixel for the determination of the localized complex permittivity at microwave frequencies is proposed. Implemented in the 40-nm CMOS, the architecture comprises a square patch, interfaced to the material-under-test sample, that provides permittivity-dependent admittance. The patch admittance is read out by embedding the patch...

Optical Performance of a Wideband 28nm CMOS Double Bow-Tie Slot Antenna for Imaging Applications

The optical performance of a wideband double bowtie slot antenna, implemented in 28nm CMOS technology, is evaluated. The antenna serves as a verification antenna for an uncooled single-pixel radiometer operating from 200 GHz to 600 GHz. The performance is evaluated in terms of radiometric pattern that is derived from the measured radiation...

A 5×5 Microwave Permittivity Sensor Matrix in O.14-m CMOS

A 0.14-μ m CMOS 2-D permittivity imaging matrix prototype operating at microwave frequencies is presented. It comprises 25 permittivity-sensing pixels, each consisting of a sensing patch connected to a dedicated RF bridge. A trans-conduct-ance stage converts the imbalance voltage to a current signal, subsequently down-converted to an...

Wideband Single Pixel Radiometer in CMOS

The design and performance analysis are presented for a passive uncooled radiometer pixel suitable for integration in 28 nm CMOS technology. In the configuration a single wideband antenna, operating from 200 GHz to 600 GHz, is connected to a pn-junction diode. Including the antenna-detector impedance mismatch, the detector shows an average NEP...

Millimeter-Wave On-Wafer TRL Calibration Employing 3-D EM Simulation-Based Characteristic Impedance Extraction

In this paper, we propose a method based on 3-D electromagnetic simulations, for the characteristic impedance extraction of transmission lines employed in TRL calibration, focusing on lines integrated in silicon technologies. The accuracy achieved with TRL calibrations using the proposed characteristic impedance extraction is benchmarked...

BiCMOS integrated waveguide power combiner at submillimeter-wave frequencies

This contribution presents the development of an integrated power combiner in Bi-CMOS technology employing artificial dielectric layers (ADLs) at submillimeter wave frequencies. The power is gathered from frequency multiplier chains into a single waveguide which is loaded with ADL in order to reduce the structure footprint.

Design, Fabrication, and Measurements of a 0.3 THz On-Chip Double Slot Antenna Enhanced by Artificial Dielectrics

In this paper, we demonstrate, at 300 GHz and with integrated technology, the effectiveness of artificial dielectric layers to enhance the front-to-back ratio of printed antennas. This concept was previously proposed at microwave frequencies and using printed circuit board technology. The artificial material is now realized by introducing non...

Active Harmonic Load–Pull With Realistic Wideband Communications Signals

A new wideband open-loop active harmonic load–pull measurement approach is presented. The proposed method is based on wideband data-acquisition and wideband signal-injection of the incident and device generated power waves at the frequencies of interest. The system provides full, user defined, in-band control of the source and load reflection...

Enhanced Techniques for the Design and Characterization of RF Power Amplifiers

Surface-passivated high-resistivity silicon as a true microwave substrate

Power amplifier PAE and ruggedness optimization by second-harmonic control