On Friday 16 april 2021, PhD student Arsen Turhaner from Electromagnetic Systems succesfully defended his PhD on
InP DHBT and SiGe BiCMOS MMIC Design for THz Signal Generation
Examiners at the defence were Professor Giorgio Leuzzi, L’Aquila, Italy, Senior Researcher Mingquan Bao, Ericsson, Sweden, with Associate Professor Kaj Bjarne Jakobsen, DTU Electrical Engineering.
Arsen's PhD project was focused on terahertz (THz) frequency range (0.1-10 THz) which is of growing interest which enables the applications within ultra broadband short-range communication, spectroscopy, material characterization, high resolution radar and imaging. In order to generate high power signal at THz frequencies using transistor-based technologies, Indium Phosphide (InP) Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT) and Silicon Germanium (SiGe) Bipolar Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (BiCMOS) appear as leading technologies. The purpose of this project was to overcome the challenges related to high power THz signal generation by using these technologies. Circuit techniques and novel topologies are investigated within the extent of the project to surpass the current frequency limits of the technologies. Integrated circuits (ICs) such as highly efficient frequency multipliers, power amplifiers, and antennas are demonstrated. Many of these designs are fabricated at Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) and Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP). A state-of-the-art frequency tripler is measured, and the results are published at a highly respected peer-review journal: Microwave and Wireless Components Letters (MWCL).