An Over 130-GHz-Bandwidth InP-DHBT Baseband Amplifier Module

Abstract

We designed and fabricated a wideband baseband amplifier module with 1-mm coaxial connectors for over 100-GHz-bandwidth applications. An amplifier IC was designed and fabricated in 250-nm InP DHBT technology. Two peaking methods were used in the amplifier IC to compensate for the loss from packaging. The amplifier IC was mounted on a quartz-based substrate by flip-chip bonding to avoid large loss and reflection. The impedance of RF lines on the substrate was designed by taking into account an underfill used to maintain the strength of the flip-chip bonding. The fabricated amplifier IC achieved a DC gain of 7.5 dB with a peaking gain of +6.4 dB at 175 GHz and a bandwidth of 208 GHz. The fabricated amplifier module achieved a DC gain of 7.3 dB with a bandwidth of over 130 GHz, the widest bandwidth ever reported among baseband amplifier modules.