Wideband mm-Wave Integrated Passive Tuners for Accurate Characterization of (Bi)CMOS Technologies

• Published in: 2022 99th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG) pp. 1 - 3
• Main Authors: Margalef-Rovira, M., Maye, C., Alaji, I., Lepilliet, S., Gloria, D., Ducournau, G., Gaquiere, C.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 24-06-2022
• Subjects: attenuator; Attenuators; BiCMOS; Impedance; impedance tuner; load-pull; Microwave measurement; mm-Wave; Power transmission lines; Reflection coefficient; Transmission line measurements; Tuners
• DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG54656.2022.9896490

This paper presents an innovative impedance tuner architecture aiming at on-wafer characterization. The proposed impedance tuner is composed of an integrated attenuator, which can be tuned in an analog manner, and a transmission line. Thanks to the use of an external short-circuited probe, the effective length of the transmission line can be modified, leading to a phase shift of the reflection coefficient while the attenuator controls its magnitude. Measurement-based results are presented to prove the precision obtained using the external short-circuited probe, while simulation-based results show the performance of the overall system. The system allows complete coverage of the 140-220 GHz band with 2. 5-4.2dB maximum reflection coefficients and minimum reflection coefficients greater than 20 dB, which can be continuously tuned. On the other hand, thanks to the short-circuited probe, virtually, continuous tuning of the phase is also achievable.