A Fully Integrated CMOS Pulse Transmitter with On-Chip Antenna Array for Millimeter-Wave Imaging

This dissertation focuses on the implementation of integrating pulse transmitter with wide-band antenna array into a chip by CMOS process for beam-forming in millimeter-wave (mm-wave) active imaging applications. Integrated antenna arrays in this research electrically control and steer radiated-pulse beams towards objects to be imaged. Among imaging approaches, active imaging method provides more sensitivity compared with passive one since mm-wave transmitted beams of active method can illuminate on relevant imaged portions belonging to the objects. For active imaging purposes such as medical-image diagnosis support applications, an integrated antenna array transmitter with beam-formability enhances radiation signals from imaged objects (cancer cells, teeth, etc.), achieves high resolution, and acquires electrical controllability over scanning angles. Our approach of antenna array integration for active imaging utilizes timed array to achieve pulse beam-formability and controllability of the mm-wave pulse transmitter. It means that radiated beam directions or angles can be controlled by changing inter-element pulse delays of timed-antenna array without rotating the physical antenna array system. First, we designed and integrated a 100 – 120-GHz shock wave transmitter with a 54×24 loop antenna array into a 0.25-μm Silicon Germanium BiCMOS chip. The 30-μm×30-μm loop antenna located on the top-metal layer operates as a coil in an integrated mm-wave pulse generator or shock wave generator (SWG). Each of the on-chip SWGs employing under-damped/over-damped conditions to produce mm-wave pulses includes an R-L-C circuit, a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) operated as a switch, and a CMOS inverter chain circuit for shaping the rising edge of the input clock. From the measurement result, we demonstrated the possibility of on-chip loop antenna array integrated together with mm-wave shock wave transmitter towards the purpose of beam-forming by changing power supplies of inverter chains. Second, we performed a 0.18-μm CMOS fully integrated X-band SWG with an on-chip dipole antenna and a digitally programmable delay circuit for pulse beam-formability. A 9–11-GHz resistorless SWG circuit was designed, fabricated and measured with on-chip meandering antenna and digitally programmable delay circuit (DPDC). The SWG operates