A 60 GHz Low Power Integrated Quasi-Circulator in 22 nm FDSOI Technology

This work presents the design and characterization of a millimeter wave integrated quasi-circulator implemented in a 22 nm fully depleted silicon on insulator technology, targeting single antenna radio frequency identification systems. The design is based on a Wilkinson power divider and a common-gate loss compensation amplifier. Characterization results show that all ports are matched to 50Ω with magnitude of input reflection coefficients better than -10 dB. The measured transmit port to antenna port insertion loss is 5.7 dB, and the antenna port to receive port gain is 2 dB. The power amplifier port to loss compensation amplifier isolation is greater than 20 dB in the 57 GHz to 63 GHz frequency range, with a maximum of 32 dB. The circuit consumes 5.4mW power and occupies an area of 0.49 mm
²
. To the knowledge of the authors, the design has one of the best reported combinations of isolation, power consumption and occupied area among integrated quasi-circulators.