A Fully Integrated 30-to-160GHz Coherent Detector with a Broadband Frequency Comb in 65nm CMOS

Abstract

This paper presents a broadband millimetre-wave coherent detector that uses an on-chip frequency comb with a tunable repetition frequency as a high-precision frequency ruler. A heterodyne MOSFET detector mixes the received signal with the reference comb and downconverts it to an intermediate-frequency signal below 2 GHz. The receiver is able to detect signals from 30 to 160 GHz with a 2-Hz resolution. The detector chip is fabricated in TSMC 65-nm CMOS technology, occupies an area of 0.56 mm2, and consumes 34 mW dc power.