Efficient waveguide power combiners at mm-wave frequencies

In this study, an efficient power combiner for mm-wave frequency transmitters is investigated. The combiner is based on a parallel plate waveguide (PPW) excited with multiple parallel feeds. The Doherty power combiner scheme is also integrated in the proposed concept, to increase the efficiency of the amplifiers when implementing amplitude...

Chessboard Focal Plane Array for a CMOS-Integrated Terahertz Camera

This article presents the development of a focal plane array (FPA) for terahertz imaging applications with a near diffraction-limited resolution achieved through a very tight sampling of the focal plane. The antenna array is integrated with direct detectors in a 22-nm CMOS technology and operates from 200 to 600 GHz. The tight sampling of the...

Spectral Purity Evaluation of VNA Frequency Extenders to Enable Electronic Software-Based Power Control

In this paper, we present an experimental strategy to analyze the harmonic content of mm-wave frequency extenders using the VNA (absolute) power calibration step, without requiring spectrum analyzers and/or separate downconverters. The spectral purity of the upconverted band of the extenders is a key requirement to enable entirely software-based...

A Four-Way Series Doherty Digital Polar Transmitter at mm-Wave Frequencies

This article presents an efficient digital polar transmitter (DPTX) at mm-wave frequencies that exploit a novel N -way series Doherty combiner (SDC) to enhance its drain and system efficiency at deep power back-off (PBO). The proposed N -way SDC is scalable and can be implemented elegantly using N transformers and N-1 shunt capacitors. As a...

First Demonstration of Dynamic High-Gain Beam Steering With a Scanning Lens Phased Array

We report on the first demonstration of dynamic beam steering using a scanning lens phased array. A scanning lens phased array relies on a combination of mechanical and electrical phase shifting to dynamically steer a high-gain beam beyond the grating-lobe free region using a sparse array. These two concepts have been demonstrated separately in...

Extending the Open-Short de-embedding frequency via metal-l on-wafer calibration approaches

In this contribution, We analyze the bandwidth versus accuracy trade-offs of conventional two-step de-embedding approaches, often employed to extract the device model parameters. The accuracy limitation of incorporating the pad/line section of classical DUT test-fixtures into shunt-series complex and frequency-dependent elements is analyzed by...

Wideband Modeling of CMOS Schottky Barrier Diode Detectors for THz Radiometry

A complete system modeling and characterization of a wideband differential terahertz (THz) direct detector, integrated in a commercial CMOS technology, is presented. The detector consists of a recently developed double leaky-slot lens antenna that operates from 200 to 600 GHz in combination with a differential Schottky barrier diode (SBD) direct...

H-band Quartz-Silicon Leaky-Wave Lens with Air-Bridge Interconnect to GaAs Front-End

Thanks to the large bandwidth availability, millimeter and sub-millimeter wave systems are getting more attractive to be used in a wide range of applications, such as high-resolution radar or high-speed communications. In this contribution, a new lens antenna in-package solution is presented for the H-band (220320 GHz), including a wideband...

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...

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...

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...

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...