12-mW 97-GHz Low-Power Downconversion Mixer with 0.7-V Supply Voltage

This letter presents a 97-GHz downconversion mixer in a 130-nm SiGe HBT technology. For achieving the demonstrated ultralow dc power consumption, the mixer was designed with transistors operating in saturation using an accurate compact model. With 0.7-V supply voltage and -5-dBm local oscillator pumping power, this mixer achieves a double-sideband conversion gain (CG) of 6.6 ± 3 dB over the RF frequency range from 91 to 100 GHz, consuming 12-mW static dc power. With the supply voltage further reduced to 0.5 V, this mixer still works with a maximum upper-sideband CG of 5.2 dB from 94 to 100 GHz, with only 8-mW static power consumption.