Single-sideband Noise Research Articles

Comparison of annealing quality after 3e15/cm2 50 keV BF2+ implant between rapid thermal annealing and furnace annealing

Low leakage diodes are necessary in order to manufacture high-quality variable capacitance diodes (varicaps), which are used in voltage-controlled oscillators. Junction leakage current affects the single sideband noise of the oscillator by up-conversion of 1/f and shot noise (Chan et al. in IEEE Trans Electron Devices 54(9):2570–2573, 2007, https://doi.org/10.1109/TED.2007.903201). Several sources show higher leakage current for RTP compared to furnace anneal (Lunnon et al. in J Electrochem Soc 132(10):2473, 1985, https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2113602, Gramenova et al. in J Electrochem Soc 146(1):359, 1999, https://doi.org/10.1149/1.1391613, Mikoshiba et al. in Jpn J Appl Phys, 1986, https://doi.org/10.1143/jjap.25.l631). In our experiments, we found lower leakage currents for RTP compared to furnace annealing. We present results from annealing experiments where we compare three annealing conditions with and without oxidizing annealing conditions.Graphical abstract

Microwave signal generation with discrete mode laser diode

Microwave signals with low phase noise can be broadly used in communication systems, satellite communications, and radar systems. Discrete mode laser diode (DM-LD) has the capacity to generate signals that meet the above requirements. Moreover, it has the following advantages such as stable operation over a wide temperature range, very high side mode suppression ratio, low sensitivity to optical feedback, and narrow linewidth. In this paper, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated DM-LD for generating the second harmonic signal in the self-starting microwave generation system. The results show that DM-LD effectively reduces the single sideband (SSB) phase noise of the fundamental signals and its second harmonic signals better than the same designed experimental system using a distributed feedback LD, which reduces the SSB noise of the fundamental signal/its second harmonic signal by over 16/22 dB, 18/22 dB, 13/19 dB at a frequency offset of 10 kHz, 100 kHz, and 1 MHz, respectively.

425-to-25-GHz CMOS-Integrated Downconverter

An integrated 425-GHz radio frequency (RF) to 25-GHz intermediate frequency (IF) second-order subharmonic downconverter, including an on-chip 8X local oscillator (LO) signal multiplier circuit that provides ~1 dBm at 200 GHz from an externally applied 25-GHz signal, and a 25-GHz IF amplifier, achieves a conversion gain of 6.7 dB and a noise figure of ~17 dB. The downconverter consumes 190 mW of dc power. Compared to the previously reported CMOS and SiGe HBT receivers/downconverters operating around 400 GHz and above, the downconverter achieves ~18-dB lower single side band noise figure. Finally, a passive switching mixer can have an available output noise spectral density less than kT, which can make its NF less than its conversion loss.

Terahertz Even-Order Subharmonic Mixer Using Symmetric MOS Varactors

A 560-GHz radio frequency (RF) front-end employing an accumulation mode MOS symmetric varactor (SVAR) subharmonic mixer achieves a minimum single sideband (SSB) noise figure (NF) of 35 dB in the fourth-order subharmonic mixing (SHM) mode which is 5 dB lower than that of SiGe HBT mixers. The front-end fabricated in 65-nm CMOS also achieves 45-dB SSB NF for sixth-order SHM at RF=810 GHz and 60-dB SSB NF for tenth-order SHM at RF=1.2 THz. Use of SVARs in a mixer is the first and the 1.2-THz RF is the highest for mixers in silicon technologies. The measurement results are explained using the parametric amplification theory.

Molecular Detection for Unconcentrated Gas With ppm Sensitivity Using 220-to-320-GHz Dual-Frequency-Comb Spectrometer in CMOS.

Millimeter-wave/terahertz rotational spectroscopy of polar gaseous molecules provides a powerful tool for complicated gas mixture analysis. In this paper, a 220-to-320-GHz dual-frequency-comb spectrometer in 65-nm bulk CMOS is presented, along with a systematic analysis on fundamental issues of rotational spectrometer, including the impacts of various noise mechanisms, gas cell, molecular properties, detection sensitivity, etc. Our comb spectrometer, based on a high-parallelism architecture, probes gas sample with 20 comb lines simultaneously. It does not only improve the scanning speed by 20, but also reduces the overall energy consumption to 90mJ/point with 1Hz bandwidth (or 0.5s integration time). With its channelized 100-GHz scanning range and sub-kHz specificity, wide range of molecules can be detected. In the measurements, state-of-the-art total radiated power of 5.2mW and single sideband noise figure of 14.6-19.5dB are achieved, which further boost the scanning speed and sensitivity. Finally, spectroscopic measurements for carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and acetonitrile (CH CN) are presented. With a path length of 70cm and 1Hz bandwidth, the measured minimum detectable absorption coefficient reaches cm. For OCS that enables a minimum detectable concentration of 11ppm. The predicted sensitivity for some other molecules reaches ppm level (e.g., 3ppm for hydrogen cyanide), or 10ppt level if gas preconcentration with a typical gain of 10 is used.

Modular 2SB SIS Receiver for 600–720 GHz: Performance and Characterization Methods

A modular sideband-separating (2SB) receiver for 600–720 GHz has been built and tested. The used modular design allows to characterize all the parts separately, including testing of the superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) junctions individually in a double-sideband mode before building them in to the 2SB assembly. The developed 2SB mixer has a single sideband noise temperature below 380 K in the entire operating band and reaches a level of 200 K in the best point. At the same time, the image rejection ratio (IRR) was demonstrated to be better than 11.5 dB over the entire band. However, we have found a discrepancy between the observed and expected performance. To investigate this problem, we have developed and applied methods to characterize RF and intermediate frequency imbalances of a fully assembled 2SB mixer using the SIS junction properties. As result, the IRR of our mixer was found to be limited by the RF imbalance, which is caused by complex standing waves created by reflections from the SIS junctions, the RF hybrid and the RF absorption load.

High frequency optical pulse generation by frequency doubling using polarization rotation

In this work, we propose and experimentally characterize a stable 40 GHz optical pulse generation by frequency doubling using polarization rotation in a phase modulator (PM). Only half the electrical driving frequency is required (i.e. 20 GHz); hence the deployment cost can be reduced. Besides, precise control of the bias of the PM is not required. The generated optical pulses have a high center-mode-suppression-ratio (CMSR) of > 28 dB. The single sideband (SSB) noise spectrum is also measured, and the time-domain waveforms under different CMSRs are also analyzed and discussed.

A 230 GHz MMIC-Based Sideband Separating Receiver

A 230 GHz MMIC-based, cryogenically cooled sideband-separating receiver is presented. Utilizing 30 nm InP HEMT MMICs for the front-end LNA and mixers, the system is cooled to 27 K and operates from 200 GHz to 260 GHz. The system is measured in a cryostat that couples the hot, cold and test signal to the DUT without passing through an optical window, reducing losses in the optical path. An average single-sideband (SSB) noise temperature of 92 K is measured across the band. Sideband rejection ratios are between 10 and 15 dB.

Amplification of Nonlinearity in Multiple Gate Transistor Millimeter Wave Mixer for Improvement of Linearity and Noise Figure

Current amplification of nonlinearity in a multiple gate transistor cell is proposed to simultaneously improve the linearity and noise performance of amplifier and mixer, and demonstrated in a mixer fabricated with 45 nm SOI CMOS. The mixer achieves output third order intercept point $({\rm OIP}_{3})$ of 21.4 dBm, power gain of 3.4 dB, and single side band noise figure (NF) of 9.5 dB at radio frequency of 31 GHz. The ${\rm OIP}_{3}$ is $\sim$ 5 dB higher and NF is $\sim$ 4 dB lower than the best for CMOS millimeter wave mixers.

Performance of the Production Band 3 receivers (84-116 GHz) for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)

This paper presents the performance of production Band 3 receivers (84-116 GHz) for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) that operate in Chile at 5000 m altitude. The fabrication, and testing of a total of 73 receivers necessitated stringent quality control during assembly and custom designed automated test set for accurate and reproducible measurement results. Interfaces to the ALMA receiver system are described in details. The average single side band noise temperature of band 3 production receivers is 33.2 K, with a minimum of 24.4 K and a maximum of 45.5 K. As for image rejection, the average is 18 dB, with a minimum at 12 dB and a maximum of 21 dB. Other performances with test methodology are described such as gain variation within the IF band, the gain and phase stability, gain compression, and beam patterns. This paper also describes the interfaces to the ALMA front end system, the testing methodology used, and the test results.

Efficient Current Bleeding Mixer for WiMax Applications

The Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, or WiMax, is a wireless communication technique based on IEEE 802.16 standards. Its advantage of sending high-data rates over long distances, while using a single base station to cover a large area, has made this technique a flexible and reliable solution for public wireless networks. In this paper, a current-bleeding Gilbert Cell down-converter mixer is proposed for WiMax direct-conversion receivers. With 5.1dB of conversion gain, 1.5 dBm of IIP3, 36 dBm of IIP2 as well as 11.6dB and 8.4dB of single sideband and double sideband noise figure, respectively, the proposed 0.15mm InGaAspHEMT mixer largely meets the WiMax standards as demonstrated though successful comparison with published designs.

A 2.4 GHz Low Voltage Low Power Folded Down-Conversion Quadrature Mixer Design<sup></sup>

This paper introduces a 2.4 GHz down-conversion quadrature mixer which applied in the Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). The mixer uses a folded structure which is modified based on the conventional Gilbert mixer. It is designed in 0.18μm RF CMOS process with a low supply voltage of 1V. The post-simulation results show that the mixer achieves a conversion gain (CG) of 9.0dB, the input 1dB compression point (IP1dB) of-7.6dBm, the third-order input intercept point (IIP3) of 2.2dBm, and the single side-band (SSB) noise figure (NF) is 13.9dB. The mixer core consumes current about 1.2mA from a 1V power supply.

The Design of Gilbert-Type-Based Zero Intermediate Frequency CMOS Mixer

Based on the techniques of dynamic current injection, common source node resonance, second-order linearity performance and the application of CMOS technology, a 1.8V power supply voltage active folding Gilbert-type zero intermediate frequency mixer has been designed by using Candense design system. The result of circuit stimulation shows, single sideband noise figure is 6.109dB when the mixer locates at 1MHz, 6.71dB at 100KHz, 10.631dB at 10KHz. Frequency conversion gain is 11.389dB and input third-order intermodulation point is 4.639dBm.

Receiver Performance of the Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES) on the International Space Station

Superconducting devices were used to make atmospheric limb observations from space for the first time. The Superconducting Submillimeter-Wave Limb-Emission Sounder (SMILES) is a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) receiver in frequency bands of 625 and 650 GHz. SMILES was deployed on the International Space Station. SMILES observed atmospheric limb spectra for six months from October 2009 to April 2010. The sensitivity of the receiver is the most important performance parameter for microwave atmospheric limb observation, in which the receiver measures, sometimes very weak, thermal line emissions. The SMILES SIS receivers demonstrated limb observations with a sensitivity more than one order of magnitude better than that of conventional limb sensors. The sensitivity of the SMILES receivers in space was 315 K-322 K in a definition of single-sideband system noise temperature at the antenna; this met the instrument requirement with a large margin. The SMILES-receiver stability also met the requirement; the stability time of the receiver was 8 s (and 500 s for spectroscopic data) in a frequency resolution of about 1.1 MHz. Although the stability time is shorter than the calibration period (53 s) in operational observation, the variance increment by the drift noise is found to be insignificant. The temperature resolution for the continuum signal is estimated to be better than 0.27 K. There was no evidence that the stability of the SIS receiver was influenced by the temperature fluctuation of the 4-K cooling system, which consists of a two-stage Stirling cooler and a Joule-Thomson cycle cooler. The suppression of baseline ripples is another important performance parameter of the receiver for spectral measurement like the SMILES receivers. As a result of our design of low-standing-wave optics, we found no baseline ripple in the observed spectra of SMILES in practical level.

High linearity current communicating passive mixer employing a simple resistor bias

A high linearity current communicating passive mixer including the mixing cell and transimpedance amplifier (TIA) is introduced. It employs the resistor in the TIA to reduce the source voltage and the gate voltage of the mixing cell. The optimum linearity and the maximum symmetric switching operation are obtained at the same time. The mixer is implemented in a 0.25 μm CMOS process. The test shows that it achieves an input third-order intercept point of 13.32 dBm, conversion gain of 5.52 dB, and a single sideband noise figure of 20 dB.

Design of a novel mixer with high gain and linearity improvement for DRM/DAB applications

This paper focuses on a new design of a down-conversion mixer for a low-IF wideband receiver. Based on the folded structure and differential multiple gated transistor (DMGTR) technique, a novel quadrature mixer with a high conversion gain, a moderate linearity, and a moderate NF is proposed. The mixer is designed and implemented in a 0.18-μm CMOS process, and can operate in a frequency range from 150 kHz to 1.5 GHz. The circuit performance is confirmed by both simulation and measurement results. The measurement results exhibit a peak conversion gain of 13.35 dB, a high third order input referred intercept point of 14.85 dBm, and a moderate single side band noise figure of 10.67 dB. Moreover, the whole quadrature mixer core occupies a compact die area of 0.122 mm2. It consumes a current of 3.96 mA (excluding the output buffers) under a single supply voltage of 1.8 V.

A BROADBAND LOW POWER HIGH ISOLATION DOUBLE-BALANCED SUBHARMONIC MIXER FOR 4G APPLICATIONS

This paper presents a fully integrated broadband low power high isolation subharmonic mixer. The proposed mixer achieves a double-balanced architecture by adopting a single-to-difierential frequency-doubling technique, and improves port-to-port isolations. The mixer fabricated by tsmc 0.18m Mixed Signal CMOS process achieves maximum power conversion gain of 7.1dB, input third-order intercept point (IIP3) of i6:9dBm, input second-order intercept point (IIP2) of 33.5dBm, and single side-band noise flgure of i19:6dB over the 2.3{5.8GHz fourth generation of mobile phone communications standards (4G) frequency band. The LO-RF, LO-IF and RF-IF isolations are 82.8dB, 66.5dB and 62.3dB, respectively. The measured power consumption is 2.95mW at a 1.8V power supply.

지상파 및 케이블 디지털 TV 튜너를 위한 RF 프런트 엔드

This paper presents an integrated low noise and highly linear wideband RF front-end for a digital terrestrial and cable TV tuner, which are used as a part of double-conversion TV tuner. The low noise amplifier (LNA) has a low noise figure and high linearity by adopting a noise canceling technique based on current amplification. The up-conversion mixer and SAW buffer have high linearity by employing a third order intermodulation cancellation technique. The proposed RF front-end is designed in a CMOS and draws 60 mA from a 1.8 V supply voltage. The RF front-end shows a voltage gain of 30 dB, an average single side-band noise figure of 4.2 dB, an IIP2 of 40 dBm, and an IIP3 of -4.5 dBm for the entire band from 48 MHz to 862Hz.

Development of Superconducting Spectroscopic Array Receiver: A Multibeam 2SB SIS Receiver for Millimeter-Wave Radio Astronomy

We have developed a 3 <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">$\times$</tex></formula> 3 multibeam sideband separation superconducting receiver—Superconducting Spectroscopic Array Receiver (SSAR)—for the 85–115 GHz frequency band. The receiver employs 2SB superconductor–insulator–superconductor (SIS) mixers with a typical single sideband (SSB) noise temperature of 60 K and image rejection ratio above 10 dB over the frequency band. Digital techniques are extensively applied in this receiver system for excellent operational stability and efficiency. They include fast Fourier spectrometers, digital LO and digital bias supplies. In our knowledge this is the first 2SB multibeam millimeter wavelength receiver in the world. This receiver has been successfully put into observation and its considerable enhancement of mapping speed has been demonstrated.

A concurrent dual-band folded-cascode mixer using a LC-tank biasing circuit

In this paper, a concurrent dual-band folded-cascode mixer with a dual-band LC-tank biasing circuit is presented. The operation frequency bands of the dual-band mixer are around 2.3GHz and 5.2GHz, respectively. A topology of LC series-parallel resonance, which is located on the current-sinking path of the biasing circuit is used to arrive at a dual-band characteristic. An on-chip balun is designed to transform a single-ended signal, such as a radio-frequency input signal and a local oscillation signal, into a couple of differential signals for the presented mixer. The simulated/measured conversion gains are about 15.6dB/13.4dB and 11.3dB/8.6dB at 2.3GHz and 5.2GHz, respectively. The measured IIP3 is −6.7dBm and −1.1dBm at 2.3GHz and 5.2GHz, respectively. The RF reflection coefficients at both bands are below −8dB. The measured single sideband noise factors, NFSSB, are about 12.1dB and 16dB at 2.3GHz and 5.2GHz, respectively. The DC power consumption of the core circuit is 7.52mW under 1.6V supply voltage.