40-GHz frequency dividers with reduced power dissipation fabricated using high-speed small-emitter-area AlGaAs/InGaAs HBTs

Abstract

This paper reports low power dissipation 40-GHz frequency dividers fabricated using high-performance AlGaAs/InGaAs HBTs. The high-speed performance of small-emitter-area HBTs was markedly improved by analyzing the device delay time and reducing the emitter resistance R/sub E/. An f/sub T/ of above 110 GHz and an f/sub max/ of 250 GHz were achieved with a small emitter area of 2.8 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. A frequency divider fabricated using these high-speed small-emitter-area HBTs operated at 40 GHz with an output voltage of 0.6 V/sub P-P/ and a low power dissipation of 0.9 W. The power dissipation is reduced by 43% compared with that for a frequency divider using conventional size HBTs.