A 124 to 132.5 GHz frequency quadrupler with 4.4 dBm output power in 0.13μm SiGe BiCMOS

Abstract

In this paper, a 124-132.5 GHz frequency quadrupler using inter coupling superposition (ICS) technique is presented. A phase shifting buffer based on distributed structure is designed to switch on and off the quadrupler cells orthogonally; with the concept of inter cell coupling, each quadrupler cell generates "W" shape signal during `ON' state and behaves as negative impedance to provide extra signal power to the output port when it is in `OFF' state. The outputs of the four quadrupler cells are finally added to be in phase. Through the above output power enhancement techniques, a 4.4 dBm maximum output power at 130 GHz is achieved, with power efficiency of 10.6/2.4% (without/with buffers). The 0.13μm SiGe BiCMOS process is used to fabricate the design and the quadrupler core and the buffers consume 26mW and 89mW of DC power, respectively.