Abstract
Integrated noise sources (or hot loads) are essential to enable precise gain and noise figure Built-In Test Equipment (BITE) measurements. The present paper describes a millimeter-wave, solid-state noise source implemented in a standard, 130-nm Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) Bipolar-Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (BiCMOS) process. This device is based on a p-i-n (varactor) diode that has two states: a cold state, when it is off, and an hot state when the diode is driven into avalanche breakdown. Two noise diodes with 10 and 20 square microns area have been fabricated and experimentally characterized. The measurements highlight a breakdown voltage is close to 10.7 V, whereas Excess Noise Ratio (ENR) equal to 16 dB (10 square microns diode) and 19 dB (20 square microns diode) are observed at 40 GHz, for a current density of 0.1 mA per square micron. For the first time the ENR is studied as a function of the physical device temperature, showing a slight decrease of -0.008 dB/K as the temperature increases from 298 to 358 K. An accurate modeling of the noise source is finally provided through a small-signal equivalent circuit that can be easily implemented into Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools. This contains some modifications with respect to the original Gliden and Hines model. The obtained results enable the employment of p-i-n avalanche noise diodes for the automatic characterization of integrated circuits in the production environment, as well as for the calibration of millimeter-wave receivers and radiometers during their operational life.
Highlights
A telecommunication major step is expected in the near future with a deep impact on automotive, naval, aeronautic and space industries
Silicon Systems-on-Chips (SoC) will be extensively adopted to this purpose since nanoscale Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) Bipolar-CMOS (BiCMOS) and Silicon-Carbide (SiC) processes allow for state-of-the-art integration densities of the
The diode Excess Noise Ratio (ENR) and its variation with the temperature is described in two following subsections
Summary
A telecommunication major step is expected in the near future with a deep impact on automotive, naval, aeronautic and space industries. Communication systems based on 5G and 6G standards will be on the market in 10 years with unprecedented performance in terms of data rate, flexibility and coverage. Self-driving electric cars, robotic ships [2], drones and constellations of nano-satellites (CubeSats) will be used for mobility, logistic and monitoring purposes, as well as to bring the Internet to remote places, perform meteorological forecasts and many other commercial and scientific missions [3], [4]. In all these applications an impressive amount of miniaturized, low-cost and high reliability electronics is required. Silicon Systems-on-Chips (SoC) will be extensively adopted to this purpose since nanoscale Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) Bipolar-CMOS (BiCMOS) and Silicon-Carbide (SiC) processes allow for state-of-the-art integration densities of the
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