Full D-Band Transmit-Receive Module for Phased Array Systems in 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS

This letter presents a D-band (110 to 170 GHz) transmit–receive module in 0.13- $\mu \text{m}$ silicon–germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS for phased-array applications. The module includes single-pole double throw (SPDT) switches, a low noise amplifier (LNA), a power amplifier (PA), and two variable gain amplifiers (VGAs). A broadband quarter-wave SPDT is designed with power handling capacity of 17 dBm and a state-of-the-art insertion loss of 2 dB at 140 GHz. The three-stage cascode LNA and PA and the two-stage phase-compensated VGA cover the entire D-band. In the receive mode, the module has a measured peak gain of 28.3 dB with a 3-dB bandwidth (BW) of 110–170 GHz, along with a minimum noise figure (NF) of 9 dB (at 120 GHz) and an IP1dB of −21 dBm. In the transmit mode, the peak gain is 22.4 dB within a 3-dB BW of 113–170 GHz, while the OP1dB is 7 dBm and the $\text{P}_{\mathrm{ sat}}~9.5$ dBm at 140 GHz.