245-GHz LNA, Mixer, and Subharmonic Receiver in SiGe Technology

Abstract

A four-stage common-base (CB) 245-GHz low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a fourth subharmonic 245-GHz transconductance mixer are presented. An integrated subharmonic receiver for sensing applications in the 245-GHz industrial-scientific-medical band is proposed. The receiver consists of a single-ended CB LNA, a fourth transconductance subharmonic mixer, a 60-GHz push-push voltage-controlled oscillator with a 1/32 divider, and an IF amplifier. It is fabricated in an SiGe: C BiCMOS technology with <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">f T</i> and <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">f</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">max</sub> of 300 and 500 GHz, respectively. Its measured single-ended gain is 21 dB at 243 GHz with a tuning range of 12 GHz, and a noise figure of 33 dB. The input 1-dB compression point is -37 dBm . The receiver dissipates at 358 mW.