40GHz Frequency Tripler with High Fundamental and Harmonics Rejection in 55nm SiGe-BiCMOS

Abstract

This paper presents a novel frequency tripler circuit topology which yields a remarkable improvement on the suppression of the driving signal frequency at the output, compared to conventional designs exploiting transistors in class-C. The active core of the circuit approximates the transfer characteristic of a third-order polynomial that ideally produces only a third-harmonic of the input signal. Implemented in a 55nm SiGe-BiCMOS technology and consuming 13.6mA from 1.7V, the tripler demonstrates ~40dB suppression of the input signal and its 5th harmonic over 16% factional bandwidth and robustness to power variation of the driving signal over a 15dB range.