ISBN: 978-981-11-0008-6 DOI: 10.18178/wcse.2016.06.047
340-GHz Signal Source Design with Integrated On-Chip Bondwire Antenna in 40-nm CMOS
Abstract— This work presents two 340-GHz signal source designs with on-chip antennas for terahertz (THz)
imaging applications. The first signal source (1st SS) adopts a triple-push oscillator topology to generate a
single-ended THz signal which is radiated out by a proposed on-chip high-gain bondwire antenna with
simulated antenna gain as high as 2.9 dBi at 340 GHz. The second signal source (2nd SS) is realized by a
proposed triple-push oscillator topology which can provide differential output without any additional balun
required. The differential output is radiated to the air by an on-chip differential patch antenna with simulated
antenna gain of -3.9 dBi at 340 GHz. These two signal sources are implemented in 40-nm digital CMOS
technology. The measured output frequency and the equivalent isotropically radiated power of the 1st SS and
2nd SS are 346 GHz and 336 GHz, and -17.1 dBm and -16.8 dBm, while only consuming 58.3 mW and 44.6
mW from a 1.1 V supply, respectively.
Index Terms— CMOS, signal source, on-chip antenna, THz, imaging system.
Te-Yen Chiu, Chun-Hsing Li
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Central University, TAIWAN
Chun-Lin Ko, Da-Chiang Chang
National Chip Implementation Center, National Applied Research Laboratories, TAIWAN
Ming-Ching Kuo
Information and Communication Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, TAIWNA
Cite: Te-Yen Chiu, Chun-Lin Ko, Chun-Hsing Li, Ming-Ching Kuo, Da-Chiang Chang, "340-GHz Signal Source Design with Integrated On-Chip Bondwire Antenna in 40-nm CMOS," Proceedings of 2016 6th International Workshop on Computer Science and Engineering, pp. 310-314, Tokyo, 17-19 June, 2016.