48.8mW Multi-cell InP HBT Amplifier with on-wafer power combining at 220GHz

48.8mW Multi-cell InP HBT Amplifier with on-wafer power

combining at 220GHz

Thomas Reed, Mark RodwellUniversity of California, Santa Barbara

Zach Griffith, Petra Rowell, Miguel Urteaga, Mark Field, Jon HackerTeledyne Scientific & Imaging, LLC

[email protected]

Thomas Reed UCSB CSICS M.42

220 GHz InP HBT Power Amplifier

10/19/2011

mm-Wave Power in Communications and Imaging

250nm Indium Phosphide HBT Technology MMIC Power Amplifier Cells & Combiners Multi-cell Power Amplifier Results


mm-Wave Power in Communications and Imaging

10/19/2011


Systems at High Frequency

10/19/2011

High Bandwidth Communications PRec decreases as

High Resolution Imaging Systems PRec decreases as

Tx/Rx Challenges: Atmospheric Attenuation

~2.5 dB/km @ 220 GHz +3-30dB/km w/ Fog/Rain

High Noise Figure ~10 dB(InP)

2

2

R

4

4

R

Wiltse, 1997IEEE APS-Symposium,

sealevel

4 km

9 km

220 GHz


mm-Wave Comm. requires large power

10/19/2011

Minimum Received Power

Transmission Losses 300m

Minimum Transmitted Power 29.2 dBm = 0.83 W

100dB139dB20dBi20dBi1dBR4

λGGP

P 2

rtα-

t

rec

Re

PA LNA . . .. . .

70.8dBm)3dB(Q)90dB(1Gbps10dB(NF)z173.8dBm/HP

kTFBQP2

minrec,

2minrec,

0.83W29.2dBmPt


mm-Wave PA Results

10/19/2011

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

80 90100 200 300

Reed, et al. InP HBTInP HEMTOther InP HBTGaN

Pou

t (dB

m)

Frequency (GHz)


250nm InP HBT Process

10/19/2011


Device High Performance Operating Area

10/19/2011

Jmax = 12mA/um2

Vbe,on = 0.85V VBcbo = 4.5V Pmax = 15mW/um2

Vce,hf = 3V high bandwidth

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

0 1 2 3 4 50

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

J e (mA/

m2 )

Vce (V)

10mW/m2

250nm, 4-finger HBT, Le,tot

= 24m

Ib,step

= 0.30mA

15mW/m2

Ic (mA)

Data courtesy Zach GriffithQuiescient Bias Point/Class A load line


ƒt,ƒmax varies with DC Bias

10/19/2011

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0 1 2 3 4 5

J e (mA

/m

2 )

Vce (V)

384,435 f,f

max

431,730 f,f

max

398,716 f,f

max

345,650 f,f

max

275,550 f,f

max

217,452 f,f

max

175,384 f,f

max

124,290 f,f

max

Reference units, GHz

ft/fmax peak = 400/700 GHz

ft/fmax =350/590 GHz

Highly degraded bandwidth above Vce=3V


Multi-finger HBT Modeling

10/19/2011

Device Modeling Hole in Ground Plane Multi-finger HBT

performance verified

4-finger HBT Aemitter= 4x 0.25x6μm2

ft/fmax = 333/530GHz

1-finger HBT ft/fmax =

350/590GHz

Emitter Base

Collector

Ground Plane

Another 4-finger cell


Non-Inverted Microstrip Wiring

10/19/2011

Local GND Wider 50Ω than inv. microstrip Must Model Holes in GND plane

MIM Capacitors, Thin-Film Resistors

Metal 1

Metal 2

Metal 3

Metal 4

MIM CAP

5µm1µm1µm

(εr = 2.7) BCB

GND

BCB

BCB

50 Ω

15µm


MMIC Power Amplifier Cells & Combiners

10/19/2011


MMIC Power Amplifier Cell Design

10/19/2011

/finger11118mA

2VΔIΔV

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

0 1 2 3 4 50

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

J e (mA/

m2 )

Vce (V)

10mW/m2

250nm, 4-finger HBT, Le,tot

= 24m

Ib,step

= 0.30mA

15mW/m2

Ic (mA)ΔI

ΔVCascode Amplifier Topology

Gain, Input/Output Isolation, Interconnects: ADS Momentum

High ZoMIM


A 4-finger Amplifier Cell

10/19/2011



10/19/2011λ/4 Chokes

CE CB

DC Supplies



10/19/2011

DC Block

Input MatchingOutput Tuning

Bypass Cap


Combining for High MMIC Power

10/19/2011

Combine 4:1 and 2:1 for larger total power

Limits to combiners Large IL at L ≥ λg/4


2:1 Power Combiner

10/19/2011

2-Cell Power Amplifier with 2:1 power combining. The die is 0.7x0.58 mm2.

Cell

Combiner

Measured 1.25dB insertion loss for Back-to-back Combiners

-40-35-30-25-20-15-10-50

200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340

S11 Measured

S21 MeasuredS-Pa

ram

eter

s (d

B)

Frequency (GHz)

√2 * Zo

√2 * ZoZoL = λ/4


4:1 Power Combiner

10/19/2011

4-cell InP HBT amplifier with 4-1 power combiners. The die is 0.7x0.65 mm2.

Cell Combiner

Reduced to Lumped L/C for design

-15

-10

-5

0

200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340

S21 MeasuredS21 Simulated

S-p

aram

eter

s (d

B)

Frequency (GHz)

Measured 1.3 dB Insertion Loss for Back-to-back 4:1 power Combiners.


48.8 mW 4-finger Power Amplifiers

10/19/2011


MMIC Measurements and Data

10/19/2011

Small Signal Measurement VNA with 206-340 GHz

frequency extender heads SOLT calibration for

circuits Power Sweep

Measurement 200 & 220 GHz frequency

multiplier chains and sub-mm wave power meter

Insertion Loss Calibration VDISource

ToMeter


2-Cell PA Results

10/19/2011

02468

101214

-10 -5 0 5 10

Pou

t (dB

m)

Pin (dBm)

2-Cell HBT Power Amplifier

LL1, Pout,max

= 26.3mWLL2, P

out,max = 23.7mW

LL3, Pout,max

= 20.3mW

Operating frequency = 208GHz

-35-30-25-20-15-10

-505

200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340

S11 MeasuredS11 SimulatedS22 MeasuredS22 SimulatedS

-par

amet

ers

(dB

)

Frequency (GHz)

-20-15-10

-505

1015

200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340


S-p

aram

eter

s (d

B)

Frequency (GHz)

S21=10.9 dB @ 220GHzPout,max=26.3mW @ 208GHz

ΔV = 2, 2.5, 3V


4-Cell PA Results

10/19/2011

-20-15-10-505

1015

200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340


SPar

amet

ers

(dB

)

Frequency (GHz)

-35-30-25-20-15-10-505

200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340

S11 MeasuredS11 SimulatedS22 MeasuredS22 Simulated

SPar

amet

ers

(dB

)

Frequency (GHz)

S21 = 10.1 dB @ 220 GHz Pout ≈ 48mW @ 210-220GHz

2468

1012141618

4.05.06.07.08.09.0101112

-10 -5 0 5 10 15

Pou

t (dB

m) G

ain (dB)

Pin (dBm)



Pout

= 48.8mW

Gain

Pout

2025303540455055

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

205 210 215 220 225 230

Pou

t (mW

) Gain (dB

)

Frequency (GHz)

Gain

Pout

47.9mW 48.8mW

40.2mW

32.1mW5.1dB

4.5dB4.2dB3.7dB

6.2dB

49.7mW


8-Cell Power Amplifiers

10/19/2011

Pout = 66.1mW @ 215 GHzS21,max = 9.1dB @ 217 GHz3dB Bandwidth 206-242GHz

-5

0

5

10

15

20

5.05.56.06.57.07.58.08.5

-10 -5 0 5 10 15

Pou

t (dB

m) G

ain (dB)

Pin (dBm)



Pout

= 58.4mW

Gain

Pout

Measured Pout limited by 220GHz source power

.

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340

S-p

aram

eter

s (d

B)

Frequency (GHz)

S21

S11S11

S22

8-Cell Amplifier


Linear Power Density

10/19/2011

InP HBT process is a competitive high power-density technology.

mmW0.51

m6P

DensityPower Linear

3.05mW4fingersP

P

12.2mW4cellsP

P

48.8mWP

finger out,

cell out,finger out,

amp out,cellout,

amp out,


Recapitulation

10/19/2011

Modular amplifier cells have been designed to have high gain and high output power.

4-cell amplifiers show 48.8 mW saturated output power at 220 GHz using InP HBTs.

8-cell amplifiers show 58 mW output power at 220 GHz but measurements were limited by source power.


THANK YOU!

10/19/2011

CSICS Technical Committee Zach Griffith, Mark Rodwell, and Mark Field UCSB Rodwell Group Members DARPA MTO HiFive Program


Questions?

10/19/2011


Bonus Slides

10/19/2011


mm-Wave Power Amplifiers

10/19/2011

Current Power Amplifier Results

30 30005

101520253035

Pout (dB) vs. Freq (GHz)

KeyBlack – GaN

Red – InP HEMTGreen – My InP HBT Results

Yellow – Other InP HBT Results

Fab Author Paper Journal/Conference

Raytheon Brown, A. W-band GaN amplifier MMICs IMS 2011UCSB Reed, T. 66.1 mW InP HBT Power Amplifier * Not Published Yet

UCSB Reed, T.

48.8 mW Multi-cell InP HBT Amplifier with on-wafer power combining at 220 GHz CSICS 2011

NGST Radisic, V.A 50mW 220GHZ Power Amplifier Module IMS 2010

NGST Huang, P.P.A 20mW G-band monolithic driver amplifier using 0.07-um InP HEMT IEEE MTT-S 2006

UCSB Paidi

G-band (140-220GHz) and W-band (75-110GHz) InP DHBT medium power amplifiers

IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech Feb 2005

NGST Deal, W.R.Development of Sub-Millimeter-Wave Power Amplifiers

IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech Dec 2007

NGST Chen, Y.C.

A 95-GHz InP HEMT MMIC amplifier with 427-mW power output

IEEE Microwave and Guided Wave Letters Nov 1998

UCSB Reed, T.

3.0 mW Common Base Power Amplifier with 3 dB Small Signal Gain at 221 GHz in InP DHBT Technology

Lester Eastman Conference 2010

NGST Mei, X.B.

Sub-50nm InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT for sub-millimeter wave power amplifier applications IPRM 2010

NGST Deal, W.R.A balanced sub-millimeter wave power amplifier IMS Digest 2008


DC Blocking Capacitors

10/19/2011

Ground Plane hole Large enough to represent

a short at 220GHz. Blocking Caps create a

hole in the ground plane Inductance (Think Slot

Antenna)

Port 1 Port 2

Ground Plane

Collector MetalGround Extension

DC Block Cap

Metal 1

Metal 2MIM CAP

GNDGND

Collector Metal

Metal 2Port 1 Port 2


System Components at High Frequency

10/19/2011

High Frequency LNAs 94 GHz InP mHEMT: 3dB NF

(Mikko Karkkainen, et al. Coplanar 94 GHz Metamorphic HEMT Low Noise Amplifiers. CSICS 2006.)

150-215 GHz InP HBT: 5-12dB NF (Samoska, L. Towards Terahertz MMIC Amplifiers: Present Status and

Trends. MTT-S 2006.) 300 GHz InP HBT LNA: 11.2dB NF

(J. Hacker, et al. THz MMICs based on InP HBT Technology. IMS 2010.) 670 GHz InP HEMT: 13dB NF

(Deal, W.R., et al. Low Noise Amplification at 0.67 THz Using 30nm InP HEMTs. Microwave and Wireless Components Letters July 2011.)


Rain, Fog, & Humidy Reduce Range and Reliability

rain

heavy rain

tropical deluge

Olsen, Rogers, Hodge, IEEE Trans Antennas & Propagation Mar 1978

very heavy fog

Liebe, Manabe, Hufford, IEEE Trans Antennas and Propagation, Dec. 1989

Manabe, Yoshida, .1993 EEE Int. Conf. on Communications,

rain 50 mm/hr: 20 dB/km, 30-1000 GHz 150 mm/hr : 50 dB/km, 30-1000 GHz Clouds, heavy fog: ~(25 dB/km)x(frequency/500 GHz)90% Humidity: >30 dB/km above 300 GHznondominant below 250 GHz (Rosker 2007 IEEE IMS)

10/19/2011


MMIC Measurements and Data

10/19/2011

“Load Pull” Station Power Sweep using VDI 200

GHz and 220GHz Multiplier Chain

Calorimeter—Erickson sub-mm wave power meter

Calibration Insertion Loss calibration

with the reference plane at the probe tips

Waveguide flange to probe tip insertion loss ~1.7dB

VDISource

ToMeter

Above Photo Courtesy Zach Griffith

Documents

48.8mW Multi-cell InP HBT Amplifier with on-wafer power combining at 220GHz