J. Semicond. > 2018, Volume 39 > Issue 12 > 125005
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SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

On-chip bias circuit for W-band silicon–germanium power amplifier

Shuo Yang1, 4, , Lijun Zhang1, Jun Fu2, 3 and Xiaobin Zhang1

+ Author Affiliations

 Corresponding author: Shuo Yang, yangshuo@ime.ac.cn

DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/12/125005

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Abstract: The performance of the power amplifier determines the detection capability of 77 GHz automotive radar, and the bias circuit is one of the most important parts of a silicon-germanium power amplifier. In this paper, we discussed and designed an on-chip bias circuit based on a silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor, which is used for the W-band silicon–germanium power amplifier. Considering the low breakdown voltage and the correlation between characteristic frequency and bias current density of the silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor, the bias circuit is designed to improve the breakdown voltage of the power amplifier and meet the W band characteristic frequency at the same time. The simulation results show that the designed bias circuit can make the amplifier operate normally from −40 to 125 °C. In addition, the output power and smooth controllability of the power amplifier can be adjusted by controlling the bias circuit.

Key words: 77 GHz automotive radar, SiGe power amplifier, W-band, bias circuit



[1]
Komijani A, Hajimiri A. A wideband 77 GHz, 17.5 dBm power amplifier in silicon. IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, 2005: 571
[2]
Yishay R B, Carmon R, Katz O, et al. A high gain wideband 77 GHz SiGe power amplifier. Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium, 2010, 54(1): 529
[3]
Yishay R B, Carmon R, Katz O, et al. A millimeter-wave SiGe power amplifier with highly selective image reject filter. IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, 2011: 1
[4]
Jarvinen E, Kalajo S, Matilainen M. Bias circuits for GaAs HBT power amplifiers. International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2001, 1(1): 507
[5]
IBM Microelectronics, Design kit and technology training BiCMOS8HP V1210, 2011
[6]
Ng K K, Frei M R, King C A. Reevaluation of the ftBVceo limit on Si bipolar transistors. IEEE Trans Electron Devices, 1998, 45(8): 1854 doi: 10.1109/16.704393
[7]
Voinigescu S. High-frequency integrated circuits. Cambridge University Press, 2013: 375
[8]
Jia H, Kuang L, Zhu W, et al. A 77 GHz frequency doubling two-path phased-array FMCW transceiver for automotive radar. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2016, 51(10): 2299 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2016.2580599
[9]
Johnson J B, Joseph A J, Sheridan D C, et al. Silicon-germanium BiCMOS HBT technology for wireless power amplifier applications. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2004, 39(10): 1605 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2004.833570
[10]
Kraft J, Loffler B, Ribic N, et al. BVCER - increased operating voltage for SiGe HBTs. IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium, 2006: 507
Fig. 1.  Relationship between characteristic frequency and current density of silicon-germanium HBT in IBM 8HP technology.

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Fig. 2.  (Color online) Bias circuit structure.

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Fig. 3.  (Color online) A schematic diagram that we used to calculate output resistance.

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Fig. 4.  Simulation result of comparison between this bias solution and an ideal voltage source with 200 Ω output resistor.

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Fig. 5.  Simulation results when R3/(R3 + R4) equals about 0.82.

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Fig. 6.  Simulation results when R3/(R3 + R4) equals about 0.7.

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Fig. 7.  Schematic of a 4-stage 77 GHz power amplifier biased by (a) ideal voltage sources with 200 Ω output resistors and (b) our bias circuits.

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Fig. 8.  The simulated S-parameters versus temperature for the 4-stage power amplifier biased by (a) ideal voltage sources with 200 Ω output resistors and (b) our bias circuits, respectively.

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[1]
Komijani A, Hajimiri A. A wideband 77 GHz, 17.5 dBm power amplifier in silicon. IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, 2005: 571
[2]
Yishay R B, Carmon R, Katz O, et al. A high gain wideband 77 GHz SiGe power amplifier. Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium, 2010, 54(1): 529
[3]
Yishay R B, Carmon R, Katz O, et al. A millimeter-wave SiGe power amplifier with highly selective image reject filter. IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, 2011: 1
[4]
Jarvinen E, Kalajo S, Matilainen M. Bias circuits for GaAs HBT power amplifiers. International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2001, 1(1): 507
[5]
IBM Microelectronics, Design kit and technology training BiCMOS8HP V1210, 2011
[6]
Ng K K, Frei M R, King C A. Reevaluation of the ftBVceo limit on Si bipolar transistors. IEEE Trans Electron Devices, 1998, 45(8): 1854 doi: 10.1109/16.704393
[7]
Voinigescu S. High-frequency integrated circuits. Cambridge University Press, 2013: 375
[8]
Jia H, Kuang L, Zhu W, et al. A 77 GHz frequency doubling two-path phased-array FMCW transceiver for automotive radar. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2016, 51(10): 2299 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2016.2580599
[9]
Johnson J B, Joseph A J, Sheridan D C, et al. Silicon-germanium BiCMOS HBT technology for wireless power amplifier applications. IEEE J Solid-State Circuits, 2004, 39(10): 1605 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2004.833570
[10]
Kraft J, Loffler B, Ribic N, et al. BVCER - increased operating voltage for SiGe HBTs. IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium, 2006: 507

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    Received: 04 May 2018 Revised: 13 July 2018 Online: Uncorrected proof: 06 September 2018Published: 13 December 2018

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      Article Navigation >  Journal of Semiconductors  > 2018  >  39(12): 125005
      Shuo Yang, Lijun Zhang, Jun Fu, Xiaobin Zhang. On-chip bias circuit for W-band silicon–germanium power amplifier[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2018, 39(12): 125005. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/12/125005 ****S Yang, L J Zhang, J Fu, X B Zhang, On-chip bias circuit for W-band silicon–germanium power amplifier[J]. J. Semicond., 2018, 39(12): 125005. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/12/125005.
      Citation:
      Shuo Yang, Lijun Zhang, Jun Fu, Xiaobin Zhang. On-chip bias circuit for W-band silicon–germanium power amplifier[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2018, 39(12): 125005. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/12/125005 ****
      S Yang, L J Zhang, J Fu, X B Zhang, On-chip bias circuit for W-band silicon–germanium power amplifier[J]. J. Semicond., 2018, 39(12): 125005. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/12/125005.
      shu

      On-chip bias circuit for W-band silicon–germanium power amplifier

      DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/39/12/125005
      • 1.

        Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

      • 2.

        Institute of Microelectronics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

      • 3.

        Tsinghua National Laboratory for Information Science and Technology, Beijing 100084, China

      • 4.

        University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

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      • Corresponding author: yangshuo@ime.ac.cn
      • Received Date: 2018-05-04
      • Revised Date: 2018-07-13
      • Published Date: 2018-12-01

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