A W‐band power detector RFIC design in 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS process

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article presents the results of a wideband power detector radio frequency integrated circuit design intended for W‐band passive imaging sensors. The power detector was fabricated in a 0.13 µm SiGe BiCMOS process technology with 300 GHz/500 GHz fT/fmax. The experimental results show broadband RF properties such as a responsivity of 40–60 kV/W and a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 0.3–0.4 pW/Hz1/2 at 70–95 GHz, respectively (the DC power consumption is 225 µW). To the authors' best knowledge, the SiGe detector design reports the widest s11 −10 dB bandwidth (s11 ≤ −10 dB at 79–102 GHz) among silicon based W‐band power detectors and is competitive with InP‐based W‐band detectors in terms of a higher responsivity and similar NEP. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:414–417, 2015