Engineering

Materials science

Noise figure

Amplifier

Diode

Schottky diode

Energy conversion efficiency

CMOS

Optoelectronics

Frequency multiplier

Electrical engineering

IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques

Due to the benefits of Schottky diodes, 0.18-μm CMOS technology is being promoted for millimeter wave applications. In this paper, 60-GHz dual-conversion down-/up-converters using Schottky diodes are realized by using 0.18-μm foundry CMOS technology. A CoSi 2 -Si Schottky diode, fabricated on a lower doped N-well by blocking the threshold voltage adjustment implant, has a lower reverse leakage current and a better ideality factor. Thus, it is ideal for the 60-GHz sub-harmonic mixer design. Two new types of Schottky-diode mixers, a down-conversion sub-harmonic mixer with a dual-band lump-distributed phase-inverter rat-race coupler and an up-conversion sub-harmonic mixer with a trifilar transformer, are realized and employed at the high-frequency conversion stage of the dual-conversion architecture to achieve small size and broadband isolations. The silicon-based Schottky diode with a low turn-on voltage offers great advantage in LO pumping power, especially for an antiparallel diode pair structure. In our Schottky-diode sub-harmonic mixers, the required LO power is only 1 dBm. The dual-conversion down-converter achieves 5-dB conversion gain and 19 dB noise figure under Vdd =2.5 V and Idd =22 mA, and the dual-conversion up-converter, with Vdd =2.5 V and Idd =26 mA, attains greater than 40-dB sideband rejection and -1 dB conversion gain over the whole 60-GHz bandwidth.

60-GHz Dual-Conversion Down-/Up-Converters Using Schottky Diode in 0.18 $\mu{\hbox {m}}$ Foundry CMOS Technology