A DVANTAGES OF HEMT T ECHNOLOGY - 應用類比電路設計及覆晶封裝技術於毫米波高速電子遷移率電晶體之收發機

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 A DVANTAGES OF HEMT T ECHNOLOGY

iii

單邊頻帶、次諧波、升頻器、變形晶格高速電子遷移率電晶體、共平面波導管、

覆晶封裝、微帶線、60 GHz、單晶片、砷化鎵、完全整合、鏡像消除、接收機、

單晶微波積體電路、混頻器、除二、馬爾尚巴倫、米勒除頻器、乘法器。

Millimeter-Wave HEMT Transceiver With Analog Circuit Design Approach and Flip-Chip

Technology

Student: Jen-Yi Su Advisor: Chinchun Meng

Department of Communication Engineering National Chiao Tung University

Abstract (English)

In this dissertation, all analog integrated circuits and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) are demonstrated using 0.15-m pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) and metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (mHEMT) technologies. These GaAs-based technologies have the advantages of a high breakdown voltage, cutoff frequency, low noise figure, higher output power, and semi-insulating substrate. Furthermore, a package technique is an important key for high-frequency circuits. The flip-chip technique is demonstrated that the performances of V-band amplifiers with and without flip-chip are almost the same.

In Chapter 2, three kinds of Ka/Ku-band Gilbert mixers are demonstrated using pHEMT technology. Thanks to the semi-insulating GaAs substrate, microwave passive components have a low-loss feature, and polyphase filters work up to higher frequencies. Highly accurate Tantalum Nitride (TaN) thin film resistors utilized in polyphase filters result in perfect quadrature operation. Therefore, our proposed single-sideband up-converter operates at 15 GHz with a 63-dB sideband rejection ratio, and another 34-GHz I/Q subharmonic down-converter reaches < 0.4-dB

Abstract (English)

magnitude and < 1° phase errors. More than 50-dB LO leakage suppression is achieved in the I/Q subharmonic mixer. On the other hand, a 40-GHz stacked-LO subharmonic mixer with a novel compensation technique is also proposed and demonstrated to improve LO speed and reduce the amount of transistors as compared to the previous work.

Chapter 3 makes a comparison between Q-band 0.15 μm pHEMT and mHEMT stacked-LO subharmonic upconversion mixers in terms of gain, isolation and linearity.

In general, a 0.15 μm mHEMT device has a higher transconductance and cutoff frequency than a 0.15 μm pHEMT does. Thus, the conversion gain of the mHEMT is higher than that of the pHEMT in the active Gilbert mixer design. The Q-band stacked-LO subharmonic upconversion mixers using the pHEMT and mHEMT technologies have conversion gain of -7.1 dB and -0.2 dB, respectively. The pHEMT upconversion mixer has an OIP3 of -12 dBm and an OP1dB of -24 dBm, while the mHEMT one shows a 4 dB improvement on linearity for the difference between the OIP3 and OP1dB.

In Chapter 4, the V-band coplanar waveguide (CPW)-microstrip line (MS)-CPW two-stage amplifier with the flip-chip bonding technique is demonstrated. The CPW is used at input and output ports for flip-chip assemblies and the MS transmission line is employed in the interstage to reduce chip size. This two-stage amplifier employs transistors as the CPW-MS transition and the MS-CPW transition in the first stage and the second stage, respectively. The CPW-MS-CPW two-stage amplifier has a gain of 14.8 dB, input return loss of 10 dB and output return loss of 22 dB at 53.5 GHz.

After the flip-chip bonding, the measured performances have almost the same value.

A 60 GHz single-chip receiver MMIC using 0.15-μm mHEMT technology is demonstrated in Chapter 5. The receiver consists of an LO multiplier chain, a 60 GHz

Abstract (English)

vii

three-stage low noise amplifier, and 60 GHz image rejection diode mixer. The LO chain is formed with a tripler and a 28 GHz three-stage feedback amplifier.

Furthermore, the 60 GHz image rejection mixer is a symmetrical subharmonic diode mixer and integrated with IF and 3 × LOquadrature hybrids. The mHEMT receiver has the conversion gain of 4 dB, the noise figure of 7.0 dB, and the image rejection ratio of 22 dB at 60 GHz. The -24 dBm IP1dB and -16 dBm IIP3 are measured.

Chapter 6 reports a Ka-band quadrature-output divide-by-two Miller divider using the 0.15-μm pHEMT technology. The circuit topology consists of one Marchand balun, two active multipliers and LC-tank filters with a positive feedback loop. The divider includes a single side-band (SSB) up-converter to verify the quadrature accuracy of the divider’s outputs. A 35-dB side-band rejection ratio is achieved. The minimum input sensitivity equals 2.7 dBm. The stable division from 32 to 36 GHz in a bandwidth of 12 % can be obtained.

Keywords: Compensation, down-converter, polyphase filter, pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT), quadrature, single sideband (SSB), subharmonic, up-converter, metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (mHEMT), coplanar waveguide (CPW), flip-chip, microstrip line (MS), 60 GHz, single-chip, GaAs, fully integrated, image rejection, receiver (RX), MMIC, mixer, divide-by-two, Marchand balun, Miller divider, multiplier.

Acknowledgements

最重要的是要感謝父親蘇寬及母親蔣秀卿小姐，及兄姐等親人給

予我一路上的扶持與鼓勵，讓我更有信心繼續支持下去直到完成博士

學位。

很感謝我的指導老師孟慶宗教授，孟教授不論在學業或研究上都

惠我良多，使我一次比一次進步，孟教授給予我機會磨練自己，眾多

的訓練及教誨使我能有今天的成就與學術上的貢獻。

謝謝材料系張翼教授的科專計畫，讓我們生活上不至於困乏，且

提供設備及下線機會。另外也謝謝國家晶片系統設計中心提供晶片實

作機會，還有國家奈米元件實驗室高頻技術中心黃國威博士提供我們

完善且舒適的量測環境，及優秀量測團隊：佳松學長、書毓、汶德、

國祥和小鄧等人提供專業協助。

博士班的成員：宗翰、聖哲、宏儒、及金詳，謝謝你們陪我走過

這些日子，當我遇到困難時候，你們總是能提供我專業的意見，這段

漫長艱辛的路只有你們知道。曾經參與科專的主要優秀成員，從慶

鴻、智凱、家宏、約停、揚鮮、大維及泰麟學弟，這6 年的計畫如果

沒有你們的努力與配合，也不會今天豐碩的成果。雖然這一路上走來

很辛苦，但是我相信這在人生的道路上可以增強自己的心智。還有實

驗室的金釵學妹們，宜蓁、雅惠、宜珊、欣怡及嘉苓，謝謝你們陪我

Acknowledgements

分享不能說的心事。最貼心及帶給我歡笑的學弟柏誼、冠璋、勝文、

宇文、樺輿、熙良及忠佑，生活多了你們才能忘記痛苦且帶來歡樂。

曾經為了資格考所組的讀書會成員：順子、憲宏及繼禾，很感恩你們

一路上對我不論是生活上或是課業上的關心及照顧。另外很感謝助理

小薔，你總是在我有麻煩時候都助我一臂之力，分享心事。謝謝我身

邊曾經出現過的人，不管是訓練我的或是關心我的，因為有了你們，

才有今天成長茁壯的我，謝謝大家。

蘇珍儀

NCTU, April 2009

xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS... XVIII

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION...1

1.1 ADVANTAGES OF HEMTT^ECHNOLOGY...1

1.2 C^URRENTSTATE OF DEVELOPMENT FOR M^ILLIMETER-W^AVEF^RONT-E^{ND IN}G^AA^S...3

1.3 P^{ACKAGE IN}MICROWAVE AND M^ILLIMETER-W^AVER^EGIMESF^LIP-C^HIPT^ECHNOLOGY...7

1.4 ORGANIZATIONS...9

CHAPTER 2 KA/KU-BAND PHEMT GILBERT MIXERS WITH POLYPHASE AND COUPLED-LINE QUADRATURE GENERATORS... 11

2.1 INTRODUCTION... 11

2.2 C^OMPONENTD^{ESIGN OF}M^ILLIMETER-W^AVEG^ILBERTM^IXERW^ITHQ^UADRATUREF^EATURES13 2.2.1 Polyphase Filter Design Using Monte Carlo Simulation for GaAs and CMOS Technologies ...13

2.2.2 Performance Analysis of Differential Quadrature Coupled-Line Generator...16

2.2.3 Stacked-LO Subharmonic Gilbert Cell With Time-Delay Compensation...18

2.3 M^ILLIMETER-W^AVEU^P-^ANDD^OWN-C^ONVERTERDESIGNS AND M^EASUREDR^ESULTS...21

2.3.1 15-GHz Up-Conversion Mixer With 63-dB Sideband Rejection...23

2.3.2 34-GHz Double-Quadrature I/Q Subharmonic Down-Conversion Mixer...28

2.3.3 40-GHz pHEMT Stacked-LO Subharmonic Gilbert Down-Conversion Mixer With Time-Delay Compensation...33

2.4 S^UMMARY...36

CHAPTER 3 COMPARISON BETWEEN Q-BAND PHEMT AND MHEMT SUBHARMONIC GILBERT UPCONVERSION MIXERS...37

3.1 INTRODUCTION...37

3.2 M^{EASURED P}HEMT^{AND M}HEMTDCCHARACTERISTICS...37

3.3 C^IRCUITD^ESIGN...38

3.4 M^EASUREDRESULTS OF PHEMT^{AND M}HEMTM^IXERS...39

Table of Contents

xii

3.5 S^UMMARY...42

CHAPTER 4 COMPACT CPW-MS-CPW TWO-STAGE PHEMT AMPLIFIER COMPATIBLE WITH FLIP CHIP TECHNIQUE IN V-BAND FREQUENCIES ...45

4.1 INTRODUCTION...45

4.2 T^HEO^PTIMALG^ROUNDP^LANED^{ESIGN FOR}FG-CPWG^WITHF^LIP-^CHIPT^ECHNOLOGY...47

4.3 G^AINCOMPARISON OF FOUR T^YPESMS-MS,CPW-MS,MS-CPW,CPW-CPW...48

4.4 C^IRCUITD^ESIGN...49

4.5 ^FLIP-CHIP MEASURED RESULTS...51

4.6 S^UMMARY...53

CHAPTER 5 60 GHZ MHEMT SINGLE-CHIP RECEIVER ...55

5.1 INTRODUCTION...55

5.2 C^IRCUITD^ESIGN...56

5.2.1 LO Multiplier Chain ...56

5.2.2 Image Rejection Mixer...57

5.2.3 60 GHz Low Noise Amplifier ...58

5.3 MEASUREMENT R^ESULTS...59

5.4 S^UMMARY...63

CHAPTER 6 REGENERATIVE FREQUENCY DIVIDER WITH QUADRATURE OUTPUTS ...65

APPENDIX A DERIVATION OF SCATTERING PARAMETERS OF COUPLED-LINE QUADRATURE GENERATORS ...81

APPENDIX B SINGLE-QUADRATURE IMAGE REJECTION GILBERT DOWN-CONVERSION MIXER...84

APPENDIX C 60 GHZ BALANCED AMPLIFIER WITH CPW LANGE COUPLER ...88

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ...93

PUBLICATION LIST ...95

xiii

List of Figures

Chapter 1

Fig. 1-1 Profile of a GaAs-based HEMT structure. ...2

Fig. 1-2 Millimeter-wave atmosphere absorption...4

Fig. 1-3 (a) Block diagram and (b) chip photograph of the 77-GHz transceiver MMIC (2.0mm × 3.0mm) [Siemens, MTT 1998]. ...5

Fig. 1-4 Circuit block diagrams of (a) Tx and (b) Rx chips at 60 GHz [Herbert, JSSC 2005, 2007]. ...6

Fig. 1-5 (a)The pHEMT transmitter chip measures 5.0 mm × 3.5 mm and (b) the pHEMT receiver chip is 5.7 mm × 5.0 mm [Herbert, JSSC 2005]...6

Fig. 1-6 Sizes of (a) the mHEMT transmitter chip and (b) the mHEMT receiver chip are 4.0 mm × 3.0 mm and 5.5 mm× 3.0 mm, respectively [Herbert, JSSC 2007].7 Fig. 1-7 Flip-chip bonding profile of MMIC chip on a carrier. ...8

Chapter 2

Fig. 2-1 Two-section RC-CR polyphase filter structure. ...14

Fig. 2-2 Magnitude and phase errors of the two-section polyphase filter by Monte Carlo simulations with resistance and capacitance variations. ...14

Fig. 2-3 Rejection ratio of Si- and GaAs-based polyphase filters by Monte Carlo simulations. ...16

Fig. 2-4 Differential quadrature generator consists of (a) one coupler with two baluns or (b) one balun with two couplers...17

Fig. 2-5 Time-delay (θ) compensation analysis for the compensated stacked-LO subharmonic mixer...19

Fig. 2-6 Time-delay-compensated LO multipliers [35]. ...19

Fig. 2-7 Simple block diagram of a Ka-band system...21

Fig. 2-8 Block diagram of an SSB up-converter...24

Fig. 2-9 Circuit topology of a 15-GHz SSB up-conversion mixer using depletion mode AlGaAs/InGaAs pHEMT technology. ...24

Fig. 2-10 Micrograph of a 15-GHz pHEMT SSB Gilbert up-converter. ...26

Fig. 2-11 SSB suppression performance of the pHEMT SSB Gilbert up-converter. 63-dB sideband rejection is achieved. ...26

Fig. 2-12 Measured and simulated RF output return loss and measured conversion gain of the pHEMT SSB Gilbert up-converter. ...27

Fig. 2-13 Power performance of the pHEMT SSB Gilbert up-converter when IF1=0.18 GHz and IF2=0.28 GHz. ...28 Fig. 2-14 Micrograph of the 34-GHz pHEMT double-quadrature subharmonic

List of Figures

xiv

Gilbert mixer. ...29 Fig. 2-15 Schematic of the 34-GHz I/Q subharmonic down-conversion mixer. ...29 Fig. 2-16 IF output waveforms of the 34-GHz I/Q subharmonic down-converter...30 Fig. 2-17 Measured phase error and output difference of the 34-GHz I/Q

subharmonic down-converter...31 Fig. 2-18 Measured and simulated RF input return loss and measured noise figure of the 34-GHz pHEMT leveled-LO subharmonic Gilbert down-converter. ...32 Fig. 2-19 Power performance of the I/Q subharmonic Gilbert down-converter when

RF1=34.1 GHz and RF2=34.16 GHz...32 Fig. 2-20 Schematic of the 40-GHz pHEMT stacked-LO subharmonic Gilbert

down-conversion mixer with a time-delay compensation technique...33 Fig. 2-21 Micrograph of the 40-GHz pHEMT compensated stacked-LO

subharmonic Gilbert down-conversion mixer...34 Fig. 2-22 Measured conversion gain and noise figure of the 40-GHz pHEMT

stacked-LO subharmonic down-converter. ...35 Fig. 2-23 Power performance of the 40-GHz compensated stacked-LO Gilbert

down-converter when RF1=40.101 GHz and RF2=40.201 GHz...35

Chapter 3

Fig. 3-1 Measured drain-to-source current (Ids) and tranconductance (gm) with respect to gate-to-source voltage for both pHEMT and mHEMT. ...38 Fig. 3-2 The stacked-LO subharmonic Gilbert upconverter. ...39 Fig. 3-3 Micrographs of (a) mHEMT and (b) pHEMT Gilbert upconverters...40 Fig. 3-4 Measured conversion gain of the pHEMT and mHEMT Gilbert

upconverters when the LO frequency is fixed at 20/19 GHz, respectively. ...41 Fig. 3-5 Measured output performances of pHEMT and mHEMT upconverters

when IF1=100 MHz and IF2=150 MHz . ...41 Fig. 3-6 Measured LO-to-RF and 2LO-to-RF isolations of pHEMT and mHEMT

upconverters...41

Chapter 4

Fig. 4-1 The CPW-MS transition by pHEMT with via holes at the source terminals.

...46 Fig. 4-2 Loss versus frequency for various ground widths with signal width of 20

um, length of 200 um and slot spacing of 17 um...47 Fig. 4-3 Characteristic impedance versus frequency for various ground widths with

signal width of 20 um, length of 200 um and slot spacing of 17 um...48 Fig. 4-4 Gain curves of the MS-MS, CPW-MS, MS-CPW and CPW-CPW one-stage

List of Figures

amplifiers with the same impedance matching...49 Fig. 4-5 The V-band CPW-MS-CPW two-stage pHEMT amplifier. ...50 Fig. 4-6 Die photo of the CPW-MS-CPW two-stage pHEMT amplifier. ...51 Fig. 4-7 Flip-chip photograph of the CPW-MS-CPW two-stage pHEMT amplifier.

...51 Fig. 4-8 (a)S11 & S21 (b) S12 & S22 of the simulation (without flip-chip bonding) and

measurement (with and without flip-chip bonding) CPW-MS-CPW two-stage pHEMT amplifiers. ...53

Chapter 5

Fig. 5-1 Fully integrated 60 GHz receiver. ...56 Fig. 5-2 LO multiplier chain consists of a tripler and a three-stage amplifier...57 Fig. 5-3 Schematic of an image rejection mixer and analysis of a quadrature hybrid.

...58 Fig. 5-4 60 GHz three-stage low noise amplifier with finite-ground coplanar

waveguide (FGCPW) input matching network...59 Fig. 5-5 Micrograph of the 60 GHz mHEMT receiver. ...60 Fig. 5-6 Flip-chip photo of the 60 GHz mHEMT receiver. ...60 Fig. 5-7 Measured conversion gain, noise figure and image rejection ratio versus RF frequencies when IF = 4.2 GHz before and after flip-chip bonding...60 Fig. 5-8 Measured conversion gain and image rejection ratio versus IF frequencies

when LO = 9.3 GHz before and after flip-chip bonding. ...61 Fig. 5-9 Linearity performances of the 60GHz mHEMT receiver with and without

flip-chip while the RF1=60 GHz and RF2=60.01GHz. ...62 Fig. 5-10 LO-IF and 3LO-IF isolations before and after flip-chip bonding. ...62

Chapter 6

Fig. 6-1 Block diagram of the quadrature-output regenerative frequency divider and its input and output waveforms...66 Fig. 6-2 Circuit topology of the quadrature-output regenerative frequency divider

using a depletion mode AlGaAs/InGaAs pHEMT technology. ...67 Fig. 6-3 Micrograph of the 32~36 GHz pHEMT analog cascode regenerative

frequency divider with the single side-band up-converter test. ...68 Fig. 6-4 Input sensitivity of the Miller frequency divider...69 Fig. 6-5 Output spectrum of the divide-by-two Miller frequency divider. ...70 Fig. 6-6 Measured side-band rejection ratio of the 32~36 GHz pHEMT

quadrature-output divider...70 Fig. 6-7 Phase noise performance of the Ka-band pHEMT divider with a 35-GHz

List of Figures

xvi

source input...70

Appendix A

Fig. A-1 Symbols for (a) quadrature coupler and (b) back-to back coupled-line Marchand balun. ...82 Fig. A-2 Simulated input return loss of the two differential quadrature generators in

Fig. 2-4...82

Appendix B

Fig. B-1 Schematic of the pHEMT single-quadrature Gilbert down-conversion mixer. ...85 Fig. B-2 Photograph of the single-quadrature Gilbert down-conversion mixer using

depletion mode pHEMT technology...85 Fig. B-3 37-dB image rejection ratio and 5.5-dB conversion gain are measured in

the pHEMT single-quadrature Gilbert down-conversion mixer. ...87 Fig. B-4 Measured linearity performances of IP1dB and IIP3. ...87

Appendix C

Fig. C-1 Design dimension of the V-band CPW Lange coupler. ...89 Fig. C-2 Simulation of the CPW Lange coupler. ...89 Fig. C-3 Circuit schematic of the balanced amplifier with CPW Lange couplers....90 Fig. C-4 (a) Die photograph of the balanced amplifier with the CPW Lange coupler

and (b) a photo of the V-band balanced amplifier with flip-chip technology. ..90 Fig. C-5 Measured S-parameters of the V-band balanced amplifier...92 Fig. C-6 Measured power performance of the balanced amplifier. ...92

xvii

List of Tables

TABLE 1-1 Typical data of pHEMT and mHEMT technologies [Herbert, MTT 2006].

...3 TABLE 3-1 Performance comparisons of up-conversion mixers...42 TABLE 5-1 Performance comparisons of the state-of-the-art 60 GHz receivers ...64

xviii

List of Abbreviations and Symbols

Abbreviations

CPW Coplanar Waveguides

CG Conversion Gain EM Electromagnetic

FGCPW Finite-Ground Coplanar Waveguide GSGSG Ground–Signal–Ground–Signal–Ground I/OP1dB Input/Output 1-dB Gain Compression Point I/OIP3 Input/Output Third-Order Intercept Point I/Q In-Phase/Quadrature

IC Integrated Circuit LO Local Oscillator LNA Low Noise Amplifier

MS Microstrip Line

MMIC Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit MIM Metal-insulator-metal

NF Noise Figure

mHEMT metamorphic High Electron Mobility Transistor pHEMT pseudomorphic High Electron Mobility Transistor RFD Regenerative Frequency Divider

ω

Operating frequency, resonant frequency

f

Cut-off frequency

fmax Maximum Oscillator Frequency gm

Transconductance of a transistor

k Coupling

factor

Q

Quality factor

1.1 Advantages of HEMT Technology

xix

Z

0 Terminal impedance

Z

0e Even-mode characteristic impedance

Z

0o Odd-mode characteristic impedance

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 A

DVANTAGES OF

HEMT T

ECHNOLOGY

Until now, high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology has played a chief role in microwave and millimeter-wave circuits [1], [2]. The advantages of HEMT transistors, such as large transconductance, great power density, low noise figure, and high breakdown voltage, as well as a semi-insulating GaAs substrate are favorable for circuits operating at high frequencies. Today, the HEMT technology retains the world record for the cut-off frequency and maximum operation frequency (about 500-GHz ft and about 400-GHz fmax) [3]. Obviously, HEMT-based low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) and power amplifiers (PAs) are superior to silicon-based circuits at microwave and millimeter-wave regimes in terms of gain, noise figure and power performances [4]-[6]. Much effort has been expended to integrate silicon-based front-end circuits with CMOS analog and logic circuits. However, HEMT-based LNAs and PAs are not yet replaceable for better performance especially at much higher frequencies.

Connections between individual LNAs, PAs, and mixers using different technologies in a module suffer from large loss. It is preferable to implement the front-end circuits with the same process and on the same chip to reduce chip connections at high frequencies. Here, the HEMT technology is the best choice at high-frequency regimes [7]. Figure 1-1 shows the profile of a GaAs-based HEMT structure [8]. The process includes the metal-insulating-metal (MIM) capacitors (Cplate=0.39 fF/μm²), thin-film resistors (50 Ω/□), mesa resistors (150 Ω/□ for pHEMT and 180 Ω/□ for mHEMT), backside processing, via-hole etching, air-bridge and two metal layers.

Introduction

Fig. 1-1 Profile of a GaAs-based HEMT structure.

A metamorphic HEMT (mHEMT) on a GaAs substrate has a lower noise figure, a higher transconductance and a higher cutoff frequency (fT) as compared with a pseudomorphic HEMT (pHEMT). Fully integrated 60 GHz single-chip front-end MMICs show that the mHEMT, contrasted with the pHEMT, has higher gain, higher output power and lower power consumption [7]. The advantage of the technology

在文檔中應用類比電路設計及覆晶封裝技術於毫米波高速電子遷移率電晶體之收發機 (頁 5-25)