Single-Chip 220-GHz Active Heterodyne Receiver and Transmitter MMICs With On-Chip Integrated Antenna

Journal article, 2011

This paper presents the design and characterization of single-chip 220-GHz heterodyne receiver (RX) and transmitter (TX) monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) with integrated antennas fabricated in 0.1-mu m GaAs metamorphic high electron-mobility transistor technology. The MMIC receiver consists of a modified square-slot antenna, a three-stage low-noise amplifier, and a sub-harmonically pumped resistive mixer with on-chip local oscillator frequency multiplication chain. The transmitter chip is the dual of the receiver chip by inverting the direction of the RF amplifier. The chips are mounted on 5-mm silicon lenses in order to interface the antenna to the free space and are packaged into two separate modules. The double-sideband noise figure (NF) and conversion gain of the receiver module are measured with the Y-factor method. The total noise temperature of 1310 +/- 100K(corresponding to an NF of 7.4 dB), including the losses in the lens and antenna, is measured at 220 GHz with a respective conversion gain of 3.5 dB. The radiated continuous-wave power from the transmitter module is measured to be up to -6 dBm from 212 to 226 GHz. The transmitter and receiver are linked in a quasi-optical setup and the IF to IF response is measured to be flat up to 10 GHz. This is verified to be usable for transmission of a 12.5-Gb/s data stream between the transmit and receive modules over a 0.5-m wireless link. The modules operate with a 1.3-V supply and each consume 110-mW dc power. The presented 220-GHz integrated circuits and modules can be used in a variety of applications, including passive and active imaging, as well as high-speed data communications. To the best of our knowledge, these MMICs are the highest frequency single-chip low-noise heterodyne receiver and transmitter pair reported to date.