Low phase noise and high output power 367 GHz and 154 GHz signal sources in 130 nm SiGe HBT technology

Abstract

This paper addresses the design and measurement results of two high frequency signal sources implemented in SiGe HBT technology. The 367 GHz signal source achieves a phase noise of -110 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz offset from the carrier and provides better than -8 dBm of output power. The 154 GHz signal source achieves a phase noise of -87 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from the carrier and generates +7 dBm of differential output power. To the author's knowledge, the 154 GHz oscillator achieves the highest output power among silicon-based signal sources in this frequency range, and the 367 GHz signal source achieves the best phase noise among silicon-based signal sources in this frequency range. These results show the feasibility of implementation of high-performance sub-millimeter-wave circuits in advanced SiGe technology platforms. © 2014 IEEE.