A W-band power detector RFIC design in 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS process

• Published in: Microwave and optical technology letters Vol. 57; no. 2; pp. 414 - 417
• Main Authors: Jonsson, Rolf, Reyaz, Shakila Bint, Malmqvist, Robert, Kaynak, Mehmet
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-02-2015
• Subjects: Engineering Science with specialization in Electronics; Equivalence; germanium; Microwaves; millimeter-wave; Noise levels; Optical data processing; passive imaging; Power consumption; power detector; Radio frequencies; silicon; Silicon germanides; Teknisk fysik med inriktning mot elektronik; Wideband
• ISSN: 0895-2477; 1098-2760; 1098-2760
• DOI: 10.1002/mop.28861

ABSTRACT
This article presents the results of a wideband power detector radio frequency integrated circuit design intended for W‐band passive imaging sensors. The power detector was fabricated in a 0.13 µm SiGe BiCMOS process technology with 300 GHz/500 GHz fT/fmax. The experimental results show broadband RF properties such as a responsivity of 40–60 kV/W and a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 0.3–0.4 pW/Hz1/2 at 70–95 GHz, respectively (the DC power consumption is 225 µW). To the authors' best knowledge, the SiGe detector design reports the widest s11 −10 dB bandwidth (s11 ≤ −10 dB at 79–102 GHz) among silicon based W‐band power detectors and is competitive with InP‐based W‐band detectors in terms of a higher responsivity and similar NEP. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:414–417, 2015