A D-band Dual-Mode Dynamic Frequency Divider in 130nm SiGe Technology

Journal article, 2020

In this work, a dual-mode (divide-by-2 and divide-by-3) dynamic frequency divider is presented.  A tunable delay gated ring oscillator (TDGRO) topology is proposed for dual-mode operation and bandwidth extension. It uses a 130 nm gate length SiGe BiCMOS technology with ft and fmax of 250 GHz and 370 GHz, respectively. Verification shows that it works at W-band from 70 GHz to 114 GHz (47.8% bandwidth) for divide-by-2 and works at D-band from 105 GHz to 160 GHz (41.5% bandwidth) for divide-by-3. This divider can be used in integrated phase lock loops (PLLs) at millimeter-wave frequencies.