A 24-48 GHz Wideband Frequency Tripler in SiGe BiCMOS Technology

A 24-48 GHz wideband frequency tripler has been developed based on a 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The 2-stage tripler employs a compact wideband matching technique for the inter-stage and output matching, leading to a measured 3-dB bandwidth of 24 GHz (24-48 GHz), or 67 % with reference to the center frequency. The obtained peak conversion gain is -2.5 dB at 27 GHz with a -5-dBm input power, and the saturated output power is -0.87 dBm at 33 GHz with a 4.8-dBm input power. The tripler consumes 6.8 mW. The circuit occupies 460 × 300 μm
²
, excluding probing pads.