Title:  Millimeter-wave and Terahertz Power Generation in Silicon

Committee: 

Dr. Wang, Advisor        

Dr. Peterson, Chair

Dr. Papapolymerou

Abstract: The objective of the proposed research is to develop silicon-based millimeter-wave (mm-wave) and Terahertz (THz) power sources for emerging applications. Mm-wave and THz ranges have recently stimulated an increasing research interest, such as spectroscopy, biomedical imaging, radar, and high-speed communication. With the advancement and continuous device scaling in silicon technology, power generation using silicon devices becomes great promising to realize large-scale mm-wave and THz integrated systems. However, there exists several fundamental challenges for power generation in silicon due to the lower transistor cut-off frequency (fmax) compared to compound III-V processes, lower breakdown voltage and lossy silicon substrate. In this proposal, several circuit and system innovations are presented to address the challenges. These techniques can extend the frequency tuning bandwidth of mm-wave and THz power sources, enable multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operation for high-speed high-throughput wireless communication, and achieve spatial power combining to boost the total equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) in a single antenna footprint. Finally, a silicon-based radiator with ultra-wide bandwidth and a bidirectional low-power THz radio are also proposed for THz hyperspectral imaging and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.