Prospects for High-Efficiency Silicon and lll-V Power Amplifiers and Transmitters in 100-300 GHz Bands

Frequency bands between 100-300GHz, known as upper millimeterwave (UmmW), offer an opportunity to converge communication and sensing systems to support future high-throughput backhaul and radar applications [1]. In particular, frequency bands located at 140 and 220 GHz feature O 2 and H 2 O absorption windows for low propagation loss in outdoor channel environments. A challenge to operating in UmmW bands is the lack of mature electronic and packaging technologies that has resulted to date in poor power efficiency and higher costs when compared to lower millimeter-wave (LmmW) bands (28/39/60 GHz). While the 60 GHz bands offer substantial bandwidth, the high absorption at this band prohibits energy efficient operation over more than a kilometer.