Focused Session A: 08:30 – 12:00 Friday, August 29

Focused Session A:
Sub-THz/THz Circuits and Systems in Silicon
08:30 – 12:00
Friday, August 29, 2014
USTC East Event Center 5F Hall
Chair:
Co-Chair:
Qun Jane Gu, University of California, Davis, USA
Liguo Sun, University of Science and Technology of China, China
Terahertz Gap, sandwiched between microwave and optical frequencies, are highly under-utilized/untapped due to extremely challenging
technology developments and not-very-clear applications. To allow THz
spectrum serve human society widely with its unique features, silicon
based processes hold high promise. This focus session will present the
recent developments of THz/mmwave circuits and systems in silicon for
different applications, sensing/imaging, radar, and communications,
high power and high efficiency power amplifier design, metamaterial
technique enabled THz circuits, as well as unique THz interconnect
development.
FSA-1
Is Terahertz a Communication Waste Land or a Vibrant Frontier?
0830 –0905
Mau-Chung Frank Chang, University of California, Los Angeles
The infamous “Terahertz Gap” represents frequency spectrum that
ranges from 0.3 to 3THz (or 300 to 3000GHz). It lies between
traditional microwave and infrared domains but remains “untouchable”
via either electronic or photonic means. The conventional “transit-timelimited” electronic devices hardly operate at its lower frequencies; the
“band-gap-limited” photonic devices on the other hand operate far
beyond its highest frequency. Since wavelengths range from 1000 to
100 µm, Terahertz signals tend to behave quasi-optically and are
potentially instrumental for a wide range of scientific and industrial
applications. Those include high-data rate, short distance and secured
wireless & wireline communications, telemetric and remote sensing
based on high-resolution radar, spectrometer and imagers for intelligent
traffic/landing
control,
safety/security
screening
and
biomedical/food/drug sensing, analysis and controls. In this talk, we will
discuss fundamental & technical challenges involved in building
terahertz systems and progress made recently at UCLA to overcome
electronic/photonic barriers for realizing highly integrated (sub)-mmWave and terahertz systems.
FSA-2
CMOS Sub-THz Transceiver by Metamaterial Devices and Circuits
0905-0940
Hao Yu, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
This paper shows the latest summary of CMOS sub-THz transceiver
designs by metamaterial based devices and circuits for both wireless
and wireline communications. We demonstrate that metamamterial
devices can be leveraged for compact phase-arrayed transceiver
designs in CMOS, including magnetic-plasmon-waveguide (MPW),
composite-right/left-handed transmission-line (CRLH T-line) and split-
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ring-resonator or complementary-split-ring resonator (SRR/CSRR). For
sub-THz signal generation, MPW can be applied for high power signal
source designs; for sub-THz signal transmission, CRLH T-line can be
applied for the high gain antenna and power amplifier designs; for subTHz signal detection, SRR or CSRR can be applied in the high
sensitivity receiver designs. In addition, we have also demonstrated
surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) based sub-THz interconnect for
wireline communication. Chip demonstrations as well as post-layout
simulations will be presented at 60GHz, 140GHz and 280GHz.
FSA-3
Millimeter-Wave CMOS Power Amplifiers
1010-1045
Huei Wang and Yuan-Hung Hsiao
National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
In this presentation, we will discuss the design of millimeter-wave
(MMW) CMOS power amplifiers (PAs). In order to achieve high output
power, the combining techniques of PAs are addressed in particular.
The recently reported MMW CMOS PAs will be reviewed. We also
proposed a design method of multi-way combining networks with
impedance transformation for CMOS power PAs to achieve high output
power and wideband performance simultaneously in millimeter-wave
frequency. Three power amplifiers are designed and fabricated in Vband, W-band, and D-band using 65-nm CMOS technology based on
this design approach. With 1.2-V supply, the saturation powers of
these power amplifiers are 23.2 dBm, 18 dBm and 13.2 dBm at 64
GHz, 90 GHz, and 140 GHz, with 25-GHz, 26-GHz, and 30-GHz 3-dB
bandwidth, respectively.
Compared with the published MMW
amplifiers, these PAs achieve high output power and wide band
performances simultaneously, and the ouput power levels represent the
state-of-the-art performances at these frequencies.
FSA-4
THz/sub-THz Interconnect Channels for Planar Silicon Processes
1045-1120
Qun Jane Gu, Bo Yu, Yuhao Liu, Xiaoguang Liu, Neville Luhmann Jr.,
University of California, Davis
The continuous growth of data rates mandates an ever-increasing interchip interconnect bandwidth which has been a major challenge over
decades. THz interconnect, by leveraging the unique THz spectral
position, holds vast potential to complement existing electronic and
optical interconnects to ultimately solve the interconnect problem by
boosting both bandwidth density and energy efficiency. THz
interconnect channel is one key component to enable THz
interconnect. This talk will discuss and present the design, fabrication,
and measurement of the interconnect channels for planar silicon
processes, which includes the design of both channels and coupling
structures, the fabrication procedure and realities, the design tolerance
for fabrication non-idealities, as well as the measurement setup and
results.
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