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The high-frequency performance of a novel SiGe HBT module with mono-crystalline base link is investigated in an industrial 0.13 µm BiCMOS environment. The main feature of this new HBT module is a significant reduction of the external base resistance as shown here by direct comparison with a conventional double-poly-silicon technology. Peak f T /f max values of 300 GHz/500 GHz are achieved. A minimum CML ring oscillator gate delay of 1.8 ps and a record operation frequency for a SiGe static frequency divider of 161 GHz are demonstrated.

An on-chip RF power sensor based on the bolometer principle is presented in this work. The sensor can be used for transmitter calibration purposes without using any RF equipment offering time and cost savings. Investigations on various layers of the fT =170 GHz SiGe bipolar technology, which is used in this work, are performed and evaluated. Especially silicided polysilicon layers show a promising behavior as bolometer.Measurements on a 76 GHz transmitter chip are performed to point out the feasibility of the on-chip absolute RF power sensor. The results show that this novel sensor concept is well suited for on-chip self-calibration.

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