A 232–242 GHz Coherent Transmitter with 1.2mW Peak Radiated Power in 28nm CMOS

In this paper a 232–242 GHz radiating transmitter (Tx) is presented in TSMC 28nm bulk CMOS. The Tx consists of 75–85 GHz PA (power amplifier) followed by 75–85 GHz to 225–255 GHz tripler. The PA and tripler are single common source stages with 0.9V supply. The output of the tripler is connected to an on-chip ring structure that excites an on-chip dielectric resonance antenna (DRA). The radiating Tx has a directivity of 6.5 dBi with 60% efficiency and 10 GHz bandwidth. The Tx has a measured peak EIRP of 6dBm, a record 0.7 dBm total radiated power and a DC-to-RF efficiency of 1.5%