mm-Wave Single-Pole Double-Throw switches: HBT- vs MOSFET-based designs

This paper aims to compare the performance of HBT-based and MOSFET-based mm-Wave SPDT switches in a single BiCMOS technology. To the best of authors’ knowledge, a direct comparison of this function in the same integrated process has never been reported before. Measurement results on two 50-GHz integrated SPDTs reveal that the HBT-based SPDT switch yields 1.7 dB of insertion loss and 14 dB of isolation in its central frequency, with a bandwidth covering the 30-80 GHz frequency range when considering a return loss greater than 10 dB. On the other hand, the MOSFET-based SPDT switch yields 2.1 dB of insertion loss and 12 dB of isolation at center frequency and a bandwidth covering the 33-80 GHz frequency range.