66 GHz 11.5 mW Low-power SiGe Frequency Quadrupler Operating at 300 K and 4 K

A V-band (50-75 GHz) frequency quadrupler operating at both room temperature (300 K) and cryogenic temperature (4 K) is presented. The circuit was realized in a 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology featuring high-speed HBTs with (f_{\mathrm{T}},f_{\max})=(300,500) GHz at a base-collector voltage V_{\mathrm{B}\mathrm{C}}=-0.5 V. For achieving ultra-low DC power dissipation, this quadrupler was designed with the transistor deliberately operating in saturation. At 300 K, the circuit has a peak conversion gain (CG) of-3.6 dB at 66 GHz with a corresponding output power (P_{\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}}) of-5 dBm. At 4 K, an enhanced peak CG of 1.6 dB at 66 GHz is observed with a higher P_{\mathrm{o}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{t}} of-0.5 dBm. With a supply voltage of 0.7 V, this quadrupler consumes only 11.5 mW DC power (P_{\mathrm{d}\mathrm{c}}) in operation and 1.33 mW stand-by P_{\mathrm{d}\mathrm{c}}.