A 2 × 2 240–270-GHz Transmitter Array With 33 dBm of EIRP in a 0.13-μm SiGe Technology

This work presents a 240–270-GHz transmitter array implemented in a 0.13- μ m SiGe BiCMOS process. The transmitter array comprises two J-band ×6 frequency multipliers, four J-band four-way combined power amplifiers (PAs), and an on-chip 2×2 antenna array. The system is driven by an external continuous-wave (CW) signal generator, and each four-way combined PA delivers a peak output power of 16.7 dBm at 250 GHz with a 3-dB bandwidth of 50 GHz. The integrated antenna array consists of four differential dipoles with a reflector layer beneath the silicon substrate to enhance radiation efficiency. The fabricated transmitter array achieves an equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) of 33 dBm and estimated total radiated power ( Ptot,rad ) of 21 dBm at 264 GHz with a 3-dB bandwidth of 30 GHz while consuming 4 W of DC power and occupying a silicon area of 13 mm2. Compared to prior works at similar frequencies, the proposed transmitter array achieves a 9-dB higher EIRP than previously reported silicon-based transmitters without the use of external lens-based gain enhancement.