Millimeter Wave And Terahertz Frequency Synthesis On Advanced Silicon Technology PDF Download

The enormous potentials of millimeter wave (mm-wave) and terahertz (THz) frequency spectrum have sparked significant interest in breaking into this new frontier of technology. High-speed communication, imaging, spectroscopy and radar are just a few examples among many possible applications. Today, however, mm-wave and THz systems are mostly discrete, bulky and expensive, which significantly limits their accessibility and applications. Realization of integrated mm-wave/THz systems in low-cost and reliable silicon technologies can be a technological milestone, paving the way for tremendous opportunities both in high-tech market and academic research. This work is focused on tackling the major challenges of implementing mm-wave/THz integrated sources, including magnitude, bandwidth, radiation and beam steering of the source power. As we move to higher frequencies, the power that can be generated on chip continuously drops. Here, we have demonstrated a versatile method to maximize this power based on independent optimization of harmonic impedances. Scalable standing wave array structures are implemented based on efficient low-loss coupling schemes in order to further boost the produced power by increasing the number of contributing individual sources. Furthermore, we have presented a practical approach to maximizing radiation gain and consequently Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) of the source by optimizing influential parameters of the radiation apparatus. Achieving wideband operation also becomes more challenging with increasing frequency. This is an important obstacle in our ability to take advantage of the uncongested and large available bandwidth at mm-wave/THz. We implemented standing wave oscillators and employed a varactor-less frequency tuning method to realize wideband operation. We considerably improved the bandwidth benchmark among state-of-the-art integrated radiator arrays in silicon technology. Furthermore, electronic beam steering is a crucial component of the modern wireless systems. However, realizing the necessary wide range of variable phase shift between sources is a difficult task at mm-wave/THz spectrum. Here, we have demonstrated a new phase shifting method based on combining standing and traveling waves and were able to achieve a record beam steering range among relevant published works to date. In this dissertation, we present the ideas, analysis, design methods and experimental results of four implemented prototype integrated circuits. First, a 230-GHz Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) in a 65-nm CMOS technology is presented based on a coupled standing wave structure. This circuit is capable of providing high output power (3.4 dBm maximum) and wideband operation (8.3% frequency tuning range) simultaneously. Taking output power, bandwidth, power consumption and phase noise into account altogether, the circuit has a record performance figure-of-merit (FOM) compared to the state of the art. Then, a 0.34-THz 4-element scalable standing wave radiator array with 20.3 GHz (record bandwidth at the time of publication) and -10.5 dBm maximum radiated power is demonstrated, followed by a 0.34-THz wideband (15.1% frequency tuning range) and wide-angle (128° /53° range) 2D beam steering phased array, both in in 0.13μm SiGe BiCMOS. The phased array circuit has the largest bandwidth and widest steering range among integrated arrays above 300 GHz in silicon technology. Finally, a 0.46-THz 25-element scalable radiator array in a 65-nm CMOS is presented with high radiation gain through an optimized silicon lens set up. This coherent source delivers record EIRP of +19.3 dBm and 8.9% wide frequency tuning range, both largest values reported for integrated arrays above 400 GHz in silicon.