A highly-efficient 138–170 GHz SiGe HBT frequency doubler for power-constrained applications

This paper presents a 138-170 GHz active frequency doubler implemented in a 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology with a peak output power of 5.6 dBm and peak power-added efficiency of 7.6%. The doubler achieves a peak conversion gain of 4.9 dB and consumes only 36 mW of DC power at peak drive through the use of a push-push frequency doubling stage optimized for low drive power, along with a low-power output buffer. To the best of our knowledge, this doubler achieves the highest output power, efficiency, and fundamental frequency suppression of all D-band and G-band SiGe HBT frequency doublers to date.