Single- and Dual-Port 50-100-GHz Integrated Vector Network Analyzers With On-Chip Dielectric Sensors

Abstract

This work presents a single-and dual-port fully integrated millimeter-wave ultra-broadband vector network analyzer. Both circuits, realized in a commercial 0.35-m SiGe:C technology with an of 170/250 GHz, cover an octave frequency bandwidth between 50-100 GHz. The presented chips can be configured to measure complex scattering parameters of external devices or determine the permittivity of different materials using an integrated millimeter-wave dielectric sensor. Both devices are based on a heterodyne architecture that achieves a receiver dynamic range of 57-72.5 dB over the complete design frequency range. Two integrated frequency synthesizer modules are included in each chip that enable the generation of the required test and local-oscillator millimeter-wave signals. A measurement statistical phase error lower than 0.3 is achieved. Automated measurement of changes in the dielectric properties of different materials is demonstrated using the proposed systems. The single-and dual-port network analyzer chips have a current consumption of 600 and 700 mA, respectively, drawn from a single 3.3-V supply.Index Terms-Heterodyne, millimeter wave, permittivity sensor, reflectometer, spectroscopy, vector network analyzer (VNA).

Integrated test concepts for in-situ millimeter-wave device characterization

“…Including integrated sensors and connection pads the single and two-port chips occupy a silicon area of 3 × 3 and 4 × 3 mm, respectively. The different directional couplers are annotated by the symbol DC [11].…”

“…Fig. 8 shows the die photos of a single and two-port fully integrated mm-wave ultra-broadband vector network analyzer [11]. Both circuits, realized in a commercial 0.35 μm SiGe:C technology with an f t /f max of 170/250 GHz, cover an octave frequency bandwidth between 50 and 100 GHz.…”

A 1 to 32 GHz broadband multi-octave receiver for monolithic integrated vector network analyzers in SiGe technology

“…1) and allows a vectorial measurement of the S-Parameters. It is important to use a coherent receiver architecture, to get both, the magnitude and the phase of the received signal portion [2]. Since the quality of the S-Parameter measurements depends directly on the quantity of the signal portion of the respective test channel and of the reference signal, it is obvious that any superposition through crosstalk or feedthrough has to be avoided.…”

“…They exhibit a bandwidth over a frequency range of several GHz. A possible readout device for this kind of sensors are monolithically integrated vector network analyzers (VNA) [2]. For the translation of such broadband signals to a much lower fixed intermediate frequency, a multi-octave receiver front-end is necessary.…”

Oscillator-Based Reactance Sensors With Injection Locking for High-Throughput Flow Cytometry Using Microwave Dielectric Spectroscopy

“…[22] derives the complex permittivity of the material-under-test (MUT) from 0.62 to 10 GHz using a capacitive half-bridge. In addition, [23] and [24] implement integrated VNAs in SiGe technology to measure the complex permittivity of aqueous solutions at frequencies ranging from 50 to 100 GHz and 118 to 133 GHz. However, none of the work offers the capability for singlecell detection; only chemical mixtures at relatively large sample volume are experimented (e.g., 0.09 nL from [19]).…”