UC Santa Barbara

There is an increasing demand for high data-rate wireless communications in endpoint and backhaul links. In this research, we develop next-generation wireless communication systems (200–300 GHz), as millimeter frequencies provide vast amounts of available bandwidth, and shorter wavelengths permit many elements in physically compact arrays. This thesis focuses on building the necessary hardware and infrastructure for such systems.

First, we investigate two important building blocks: low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and frequency multipliers. We present a comprehensive study on multi-stage LNA design based on low total (cascaded) noise figure, i.e., noise measure (NM). 200 GHz LNAs in common-base (CB) and common-emitter (CE) topologies were presented with record noise figure among HBT technologies: 7.4±0.7 dB over 196–216 GHz (CB) and 7.2±0.4 dB over 196–216 GHz (CE). 280 GHz frequency multipliers (8:1 and 16:1) are presented with record spectral purity. The 8:1 frequency multiplier generates −0.6dBm output power and has a 3-dB bandwidth of 48 GHz. Spurious harmonics are suppressed by more than 28 dBc over the 3-dB bandwidth. The 16:1 frequency multiplier generates −0.6dBm output power and has a 3-dB bandwidth of 44 GHz. Spurious harmonics are suppressed by more than 26 dBc over the 3-dB bandwidth.

Next, 200 and 280 GHz broadband transceivers in Teledyne 250nm InP HBT technology are presented. The 280 GHz transmitter IC has a peak conversion gain of 21.6 dB with 36 GHz of 6-dB modulation bandwidth, and dissipates 1535mW. The measured saturated output power is 14.1dBm at 272 GHz. The 280 GHz receiver IC has a peak conversion gain of 22 dB with 34.5 GHz of 6-dB modulation bandwidth, and dissipates 455mW. The measured double sideband (DSB) noise figure is 10.8 dB at 281.5 GHz. These are the record output power and noise figure reported at and around 280 GHz. The 200 GHz transmitter IC has a record output power (15.3–16.5 dBm) and efficiency (2.71–3.57%) over 195–200 GHz. The 200 GHz receiver IC has a record DSB noise figure (7.7–9.3 dB) over 200–212 GHz.

Finally, we demonstrate packaged 200 GHz 1-channel transmitter and receiver modules with series-fed microstrip patch antennas on glass. The packaged transmitter module has effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of 21.6dBm with 20 GHz 3-dB modulation bandwidth and 62-degree E-plane and H-plane 3-dB beamwidth. The packaged receiver module has a 14 GHz 3-dB modulation bandwidth and 62-degree E-plane and H-plane 3-dB beamwidth. Modules can support a wide range of modulation schemes (i.e., QPSK, 16QAM). The link measurements at 7.15 meters showed 13.4% error vector magnitude (EVM) during 32Gb/s, 16 quadratic-amplitude modulation (QAM) transmission. The integrated transmitter and receiver modules can be used for a broad range of applications, including wireless backhaul, imaging, and radar applications.