HBT modeling and circuit design for low-power mm-wave applications
Final Report Abstract
The increasing demand for bandwidth (and higher carrier frequency) not only in autarkic devices but also in densely packed processor arrays of data servers requires power efficient operation of the associated high-frequency front-end. Recent heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology developments have enabled emerging commercial millimeter(mm)-wave (and even sub-mm-wave) applications in the field of communications and sensing. This project utilized the high speed of advanced silicon-germanium (SiGe) HBT technologies, along with accurate transistor models especially for the dynamic HBT behavior in saturation, for significantly reducing the power consumption in integrated mm-wave circuits by operating the transistors at very low supply voltages and thus in saturation. Various circuit building blocks typically employed in mm-wave systems were fabricated (along with special device test structures) and measured. Designed under the constraint of meeting at least minimum specifications for other relevant figures of merit (such as gain, bandwidth, noise, linearity where applicable), all circuits demonstrate a performance that is surprisingly competitive with existing published results on corresponding HBT and RF-CMOS implementations but with a partially much lower power dissipation especially versus RF-CMOS with more advanced lithography. The comparison shows in particular that RF-CMOS is neither the optimal nor a low-cost choice for realizing low-power mm-wave applications. Based on careful transistor modeling, first-pass success of all fabricated circuits was achieved with performance close to the simulation results. Overall, taking advantage of the high speed and high current densities achievable with SiGe HBTs even when operating in saturation, this work demonstrates the suitability of SiGe HBT BiCMOS technology with its accurate device models for realizing mm-wave circuits with lowest power consumption.
Publications
- "Compact model verification with low-power millimeter-wave circuits biased in deep-saturation", HICUM Workshop, Rhode&Schwarz, Munich, 2016
W. Liang, M. Schröter
- “'96 GHz 4.7 mW low-power frequency tripler with 0.5 V supply voltage”, Electron. Lett., Vol. 53, No. 19, pp. 1308-1310, 14 Sept. 2017
W. Liang, A. Mukherjee, P. Sakalas, A. Pawlak, M. Schröter
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1049/el.2017.2523) - “Modeling high-current effects in bipolar transistors: A theory review “, IEEE BCICTS, pp. 219-222, San Diego 2018
M. Schröter, S. Falk
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1109/BCICTS.2018.8551078) - “12 mW 97 GHz Low-Power Down-Conversion Mixer with 0.7 V Supply Voltage", IEEE Microw. and Wireless Comp. Lett., Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 279-281, 2019
Y. Zhang, W. Liang, P. Sakalas, A. Mukherjee, X. Jin, J. Krause, and M. Schröter
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1109/LMWC.2019.2901410) - “82 GHz direct up-converter mixer using double-balanced Gilbert cell with sensitivity analysis at mm-wave frequency”, IEEE BCICTS Tech. Dig., Nashville (TN), 4p., 2019
A. Omar, A. Mukherjee, W. Liang, Y. Zhang, P. Sakalas, M. Schröter
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1109/BCICTS45179.2019.8972765) - “W-band low-power millimeter-wave direct down converter using SiGe HBTs in saturation region”, IEEE ICM5G Conf., Atlanta, 4p., 2019
A. Mukherjee, W. Liang, P. Sakalas, J. Krause, A. Pawlak, K. Aufinger, M. Schröter
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1109/IMC-5G47857.2019.9160372) - “W-band low-power millimeterwave low noise amplifiers (LNAs) using SiGe HBTs in saturation region”, IEEE SiRF, 4p, Orlando 2019
A. Mukherjee, W. Liang, P. Sakalas, A. Pawlak, M. Schröter
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1109/SIRF.2019.8709134) - "3.2mW 173-207 GHz Ultra-Low-Power Amplifier with 130 nm SiGe HBTs Operating in Saturation", J. Solid-State Circ., Vol. 55, No. 6, pp. 1471-1481, 2020
Y. Zhang, W. Liang, X. Jin, M. Krattenmacher, S. Falk, P. Sakalas, B. Heinemann, and M. Schröter
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1109/JSSC.2019.2959510)
