Silicon-based sub-THz PA for Wireless Communication

Abstract

This paper presents a D-band power amplifier design consideration and its extension on a D-band transmitter. In a sub-THz transmitter, its output power and efficiency are determined by the power amplifier. In this work, the design consideration of a 150 GHz power amplifier with 7.1 Psat is presented with a 0.13 μm SiGe technology. In a direction-conversion architecture-based transmitter, a mixer is important for RF-to-LO isolation. A detailed topology analysis is also provided in this paper. A 150 GHz transmitter with an on-chip antenna in 0.13 μm SiGe technology is presented with its 10 cm wireless measured data is presented in this paper.