By Michele Squartecchia
The progress in semiconductor device technology, in particular compound semiconductor transistors such as High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) and Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT) devices, enables the development of wireless communication circuits operating at frequencies well above 100 GHz. At such high frequencies, monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology becomes mandatory. The main bottleneck in mm-wave systems today is the power
amplifier (PA). The high operation frequency of semiconductor devices, in particular silicon based, has been obtained by aggressive geometrical downscaling. As a consequence, the available output power per semiconductor device is limited.
Compared with other semiconductors, InP DHBT technology offers a combination of very high frequency of operation and high voltage signal swing together with the potential for high density of integration. These are all recognized advantages for the implementation of mm-wave MMICs with high output power capability as required by emerging mm-wave systems.
In this project, suitable topologies for mm-wave power amplifiers will be investigated based on currently available device models. The overall objective is to develop an implementation of PA MMIC targeting emerging applications at E-band and higher mm-wave frequencies.
Completed: 2018