A 140 GHz to 170 GHz Active Tunable Noise Source Development in SiGe BiCMOS 55 nm Technology

A new approach of millimeter wave (mmW) integrated active noise source (NS) is introduced for noise characterization up to 170 GHz. This NS is based on a diode biased in avalanche regime in BiCMOS 55 nm (B55) technology from STMicroelectronics. In order to increase the noise sensitivity of setup using this NS, a two-stage cascode Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) composed of 4 high speed NPN transistors is cascaded at its output, targeting high available Excess Noise Ratios (ENR
av
). ENR
av
levels have been extracted, showing tunable values ranged between 0 dB to 37 dB in the 140-170 GHz frequency range.