A 200-GHz High-Compression, Coupled-Line Common-Base Mixer in 90-nm SiGe Technology
Abstract
This letter presents a novel fundamental downconverting mixer topology for millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) applications operating beyond$f_{max}/2$. The proposed work achieves high-compression via the use of a cascaded common-base (CCB) gain stage and a novel coupled-line coupler (CLC)-based switching stage, with triaxial balun-based matching networks at the RF and local oscillator (LO) ports. This architecture is implemented in a 90-nm silicon-germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process technology with an$f_{T}/f_{max}$of 340/410GHz and achieves a state-of-the-art$IP_{1{\,}\text {dB}}$of −3dBm and 4.4dB conversion gain across an operating frequency range of 188–226GHz, while only consuming 111 mW of DC power under saturated LO drive.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design
Microwave Engineering and Waveguides
Superconducting and THz Device Technology
Publication details
- Journal / source
- IEEE Microwave and Wireless Technology Letters
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1176–1179
- Publication date
- 4 March 2026
- Language
- EN