Single-Event Effects in a W-Band (75-110 GHz) Radar Down-Conversion Mixer Implemented in 90 nm, 300 GHz SiGe HBT Technology

This paper investigates single-event effects in a W-Band (75-110 GHz) SiGe HBT down-conversion mixer intended for use in a space-based remote sensing radar system. Transient pulse propagation to the output of the mixer as a linear time variant system is analyzed theoretically. This study facilitates the understanding of transient propagation in RF receivers. Device- and circuit-level simulations were conducted to verify the results of the proposed theory. A two photon absorption laser was used to induce transients on different SiGe HBTs within the circuit to assess the impact of SETs on performance. This study shows that significant transients can be produced at the output of the mixer, which can potentially corrupt the received data or received pulse of the radar. It is shown that a differential double-balanced structure can effectively eliminate some of the transients at the output of the mixer. To the authors' best knowledge this is the first study of single event transients conducted on a millimeter-wave SiGe circuit.

I. Introduction

Millimeter-wave (mmW) circuits are extensively used in space-based radar and communications transceivers, such as NASA's W-band cloud sensing radar, weather imaging radars, as well as space exploratory probes and landing systems. All of these applications require high performance circuitry that is robust to extreme environment effects such as wide temperature fluctuations and ionizing radiation.