CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The current application claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/265,130 entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Intercoupled THz Radiating Arrays” filed December 8, 2021 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

STATEMENT OF FEDERAL SUPPORT

[0002] This invention was made with government support under Grant Number 1830123, awarded by the National Science Foundation. The government has certain rights in the invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention generally relates to integrated circuits and, more specifically, power efficient THz radiating array based on intercoupled oscillator cores for radiating harmonics of fundamental frequencies.

BACKGROUND

[0004] Terahertz (THz) radiation refers to the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between microwaves and infrared light. THz radiation exhibits a high degree of sensitivity, and can be utilized in a wide variety of applications including sensing and medical imaging.

[0005] Radiating arrays is a set of multiple connected antennas that work collectively as a single antenna that transmit EM waves. In transmission, the EM waves radiated by each individual antenna can combine and superpose, which can increase power transmitted in desired directions, and reduce power in other directions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Systems and methods for fabricating a highly power efficient p-i-n diode-based THz radiating array in accordance with embodiments of the invention are illustrated. One embodiment includes a p-i-n diode-based intercoupled THz radiating array, including: a plurality of radiating array elements, wherein each array element comprises an oscillator core oscillating at a fundamental frequency, and where the oscillator core of each array element is locked to an adjacent oscillator core through a coupling network comprising T- lines; and a p-i-n diode coupled to the oscillator core of each array element and configured to produce harmonics of the fundamental frequency from a signal from the oscillator core. [0007] In another embodiment, the THz radiating array further includes an antenna coupled to the p-i-n diode and radiating at least one harmonic of the fundamental frequency.

[0008] In a further embodiment, the antenna is tuned to maximize power radiated at a certain harmonic of the fundamental frequency.

[0009] In still another embodiment, the oscillator core comprises a pair of oscillators. [0010] In a still further embodiment, the oscillator is a Colpitts oscillator that provides differential oscillation.

[0011] In yet another embodiment, the THz radiating array further includes a cascode transistor that drives the p-i-n diode with the output of the oscillator, where the cascode transistor provides isolation between the p-i-n diode and the oscillator core.

[0012] In a yet further embodiment, a biasing current of an oscillator is set by adjusting Vbe that determines an oscillation frequency through changing transistor base-emitter capacitance, where the THz radiating array further comprises an emitter comprising a resistor in conjunction with a quarter-length T-line.

[0013] In another additional embodiment, the antenna includes a folded dipole antenna.

[0014] In a further additional embodiment, the antenna includes an on-chip antenna. [0015] In another embodiment again, a T-line network connects the oscillators to each other forming a loop antenna at the fundamental frequency enabling synchronization by an external source.

[0016] One embodiment includes a method for wirelessly transmitting harmonics of a target frequency using a THz radiating array, where the method includes: providing a radiating array with an input waveform, the radiating array including a plurality of radiating array elements, wherein each array element comprises an oscillator core oscillating at a fundamental frequency, where the oscillator core of each array element is locked to an adjacent oscillator core through a coupling network comprising T-lines, and a p-i-n diode coupled to the oscillator core and configured to produce harmonics of the fundamental frequency from a signal from the oscillator core. The method further includes tuning the input waveform to the fundamental frequency of the oscillator cores, coupling the plurality of oscillator cores by matching the phases of the oscillator cores, and generating an output waveform at a harmonic of the input waveform using the p-i-n diodes.

[0017] In still yet another embodiment, the method further includes radiating the output waveform using an antenna.

[0018] Additional embodiments and features are set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification or may be learned by the practice of the invention. A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, which forms a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The description and claims will be more fully understood with reference to the following figures and data graphs, which are presented as exemplary embodiments of the invention and should not be construed as a complete recitation of the scope of the invention.

[0020] FIG. 1A illustrates a circuit overview of a collective intercoupled array in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

[0021] FIG. 1 B illustrates an exploded view of an oscillator core in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

[0022] FIG. 1 C illustrates an exploded view of the even mode operation of the oscillator core in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

[0023] FIG. 1 D illustrates an exploded view of the odd mode of operation of the oscillator core in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0024] FIG. 1 E illustrates an exploded view of the odd mode operation of two adjacent oscillator cores in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. [0025] FIG. 1 F illustrates the tuning range and phase shift between two adjacent oscillator cores in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0026] FIG. 2A illustrates an example schematic of a highly power efficient p-i-n diodebased THz radiating array in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0027] FIG. 2B illustrates an exploded view of the schematic of the nonlinear stage connecting the oscillator core to the folded dipole antenna in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0028] FIG. 2C illustrate an exploded view of the p-i-n diode in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0029] FIG. 3A-C illustrates the transient responses of the forward-reverse mode of operation of the p-i-n diode in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0030] FIG. 4A illustrates an example optimized antenna design in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0031] Fig. 4B illustrates an example arrangement of optimized antennas that would each be coupled to an oscillator core in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. [0032] FIG. 4C illustrates the radiation efficiency of the antenna at the 5 ^th harmonic.

[0033] FIG. 5 illustrates a micro-graph of a die in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0034] FIG. 6 illustrates the measurement setup for frequency-domain characterization in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0035] FIG. 7A illustrates a formation of a loop antenna by T-lines and demonstration of wireless locking using an external source in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0036] FIG. 7B illustrates the received tone and phase noise of the wirelessly locked loop antenna in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0037] FIG. 8 illustrates a comparison between silicon-based THz sources.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Efficient THz generation in silicon technologies has been of great interest in recent years, as it provides for an integrated low-cost solution for a variety of applications including remote sensing, high-resolution radar, high-speed communication, and spectroscopy. However, direct THz generation using a fundamental oscillator has not been readily available due to current transistors having limited unity current gain(fr or fmax).

[0039] Various approaches to achieving direct THz generation have been developed based on the harmonic extraction and frequency multiplication of a fundamental oscillator, where the nonlinearity of transistors is utilized to generate higher harmonics from a fundamental oscillator or frequency-multiplier cells. However, these methods suffer from poor efficiency and low radiated power due to device limitations. While coherent array schemes capable of increasing effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) have been used more to compensate for the low generated power, problems with phase adjustments and the locking of frequencies of array elements, which are important factors in array architectures, still persist. Adjusting the phase and locking the frequency of elements can be important in array architectures, which can be performed through Local oscillator (LO) distribution and mutual coupling. LO distribution can cause phase mismatch between elements and significantly increases the direct current (DC) power consumption. Mutual coupling through injection locking can maintain phase alignment. However, this type of coupling has low tuning range, which can make it challenging to synchronize elements.

[0040] Systems and methods described herein attempt to remedy these problems by generating THz continuous waves (CW) that utilizes p-i-n diodes in reverse recovery mode instead of the nonlinearity of transistors for strong harmonic generation. A p-i-n diode, similar to a step recovery diode (SRD), benefits from a sharp reverse recovery and is highly nonlinear in the recovery mode, which enables efficient THz harmonic generation by upconverting the output of a mm-wave oscillator without requiring additional blocks and multipliers. In numerous embodiments, the p-i-n diode-based array consists of 2x3 elements, where differential Colpitts oscillators are used to push the p-i-n diodes into reverse recovery. In several embodiments, array elements are intercoupled using a collective coupling approach that enables wide tuning range and phase match between elements. The p-i-n diode-based array can achieve a radiated power of 0.31 mW and 18.1dBm EIRP at 425GHz. Collective Intercoupled Array

[0041] A circuit architecture of a collective intercoupled array in accordance with embodiments of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 1A. In many embodiments, the intercoupled array includes oscillator cores 110 that are locked to each other through a coupling network 120. In some embodiments, the intercoupled array may include six oscillator cores 110 that are mutually coupled and placed in a 2x3 arrangement working in a collective fashion, where the oscillator cores are synchronized with one another. An exploded view of an oscillator core 110 in accordance with embodiments of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 1 B. Each oscillator core may include a pair of Colpitts oscillators. A Colpitts oscillator may include an NPN transistor 112 connected to a base voltage source Vb. A resistor RB in conjunction with a T-line 114 are connected between Vb and the base of the transistor 112. A capacitor Cbe is connected between the base and the emitter of the transistor. Colpitts oscillators have two modes of operation: even (common), and odd (differential) modes. In some embodiments, the oscillators within an oscillator core are single differential Colpitts oscillators that are highly optimized with differential oscillation at a fundamental frequency ranging from 80 to 92GHz. Oscillators operating on differential mode oscillations are less affected by wire bonding interference, and differential Colpitts oscillators generally provide better performance at high frequency with lower phase noise. The biasing current of the oscillators may be set by adjusting Vb, which determines the oscillation frequency through changing the transistor base-emitter capacitance. In numerous embodiments, a resistor RE in conjunction with a quarter-length T-line 122 is connected to the emitter of the transistor. RB and RE suppress the oscillation by decreasing the Q-factor of the oscillator core in even mode, meaning that the oscillator core will oscillate for less cycles before stopping, while allowing the differential mode of oscillation between two adjacent oscillator cores. Hence, oscillation may be difficult to persist in even mode. In differential mode, the quarter-length T-line 122 transforms and changes the impedance on the other side of the T-line. By using a resistor instead of an active current source at the emitter of the transistor, a lower phase noise and a higher swing at the emitter of the transistors may be achieved.

[0042] Even mode operation of the oscillator core is illustrated in Fig. 1 C in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In even mode, the medial point is open. Impedance of even mode is approximately half of the odd mode impedance, and therefore is not optimized to maximize signal amplitude of common mode oscillation. Oscillation cannot be sustained due to resistances in the base RB. Odd or differential mode of operation of the oscillator core is illustrated in Fig. 1 D in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In many embodiments, the effect of RB is not present due to the virtual ground in differential mode, and capacitor C1 is able to produce a strong fundamental frequency at 90GHz.

[0043] In several embodiments, each oscillator core 110 is locked to the adjacent oscillator core through a coupling network 120 of quarter-length T-lines 122 and capacitors C2 such that the cores operate collectively. This mutual coupling between the oscillator cores can reduce phase noise. A stable phase match between the oscillator cores can be important to achieve high directivity in an array. Similarly, impedance between the adjacent oscillator cores is low in even mode, which results in low charge accumulating across C1 , and hence generates a low frequency that the oscillator cannot oscillate on. However, in the odd mode operation of two adjacent oscillator cores as illustrated in Fig. 1 E in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the impedance is large and oscillation can be sustained. By choosing an appropriate length of T-line connecting the two adjacent cores, phases may be adjusted such that the frequency generated by the capacitors do not cancel each other out, and radiation power at the 5 ^th harmonic can be maximized.

[0044] Odd or differential mode coupling allows for wide tuning range and stable phase matching between adjacent cores. The top graph in Fig. 1 F illustrates a plot of base voltage vs. generated frequency for a circuit such as one described above with respect to Figs. 1A-1 E. The graph shows a tuning range of 14.6%, where the radiating tone (5th harmonic) can be tuned from 399 to 462GHz. The oscillators remain locked even when Vb of the transistors are different. As shown in the bottom graph in Fig. 1 F, a phase shift occurs between two adjacent oscillator cores when the base voltages of the adjacent cores are different (AVb), which can be used for beam steering. Furthermore, this architecture can be scaled up by adding additional mutually coupled oscillator cores to implement a large array. [0045] Although Figs. 1 A-1 E illustrate a particular circuit architecture of a THz radiating array, any of a variety of circuit architectures can be utilized as appropriate to the requirements of a specific application in accordance with embodiments of the invention. As will be discussed in greater detail below, in several embodiments the oscillator cores can each be connected to an antenna through a nonlinear stage. Radiating arrays of antennas and nonlinear stages that may be implemented in accordance with embodiments of the invention are described next.

Radiating Array Design

[0046] A circuit architecture of a highly power efficient, p-i-n diode-based THz radiating array in accordance with embodiments of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 2A. The radiating array may include a number of radiating elements 210 corresponding to the number of oscillator cores 110. In numerous embodiments, radiating element 210 includes a folded dipole antenna 212 is coupled to the oscillator core 110, and can radiate a certain harmonic of the output generated by the nonlinear stage 214 based on the output of the oscillator core 110. In several embodiments, the radiating element 210 may include an on-chip antenna. In many embodiments, the nonlinear stage 214 includes a p-i-n diode 216 that is coupled to the oscillator core 110 to generate tones above fmax of the transistor. [0047] An exploded view of the nonlinear stage 214 connecting the folded dipole antenna 212 to the oscillator core 110 is illustrated in Fig. 2B in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In many embodiments, a cascode transistor 218 is used to drive the p-i-n diode 216 with the output of the oscillator, and provide some degree of isolation between the p-i-n diode 216 and the oscillator core 110. The cascode transistor 218 may prevent the disruption of the oscillator core 110, which can be caused by strong swings at the antenna input.

[0048] The p-i-n diode 216 as illustrated in Fig. 2C in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, includes intrinsic and p, n regions. The p-i-n diode 216 has very low parasitic resistance, and can function as an ultra-fast current switch in reverse recovery, which can abruptly change the current of the antenna resulting in a high nonlinearity and strong harmonic generation. Fig. 3A-C illustrates the operation of the p-i-n diode 216 in forward-reverse mode in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In forward mode illustrated by Fig. 3A, cascode transistors are switched off. Due to the inductance of the folded dipole antenna, current flows in the direction of the diode as demonstrated by the increase in positive current where some charges are accumulated on the diode. The accumulated charges do not dissipate instantly, and can persist during the diode’s reverse mode operation. As the cascode transistors switch on in Fig. 3B, current switches directions from forward to reverse, voltage changes quickly from Vf to Vreverse as well. Every time the direction of current switches, charges accumulate and dissipates, Vf is changed to Vreverse like a switch. In many embodiments, higher order harmonics of the fundamental frequency are generated due to the quick switches. As illustrated in Fig. 3C, the reverse switch is able to generate approximately 50 mA in 0.8 ps, which leads to high nonlinearity that may be used to generate THz harmonics. Such a large change in current occurring in less than 2.4 ps cannot be performed by CMOS and bipolar transistors, and gives p-i-n diodes their unique advantage.

[0049] For efficient THz harmonic generation, the antenna impedance is optimized in many embodiments of the invention. To calculate the optimum impedance of the antenna, an RLC model of the antenna at the 5th harmonic (420GHz) is derived and used. An optimized antenna design that provides a proper impedance matching without requiring an additional matching network in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 4A. The antenna length is approximately half of the wavelength (~A/2) at 425GHz for optimum radiation at the 5th harmonic of the fundamental frequency of the oscillator core. To improve the efficiency of the folded dipole antenna, a proper return path may be utilized.

[0050] In many embodiments, providing a return path with a 90° phase difference can prevent current being returned to the lossy substrate due the direct coupling of the antenna. Therefore, a metal ring 410 with a A/4 spacing from the antenna may be used as the return path, resulting in an improvement in the radiation efficiency and bandwidth. Antennas may be placed in other directions with respect to the metal ring 410. Fig. 4B illustrates a 2x3 arrangement of the optimized antennas that would each be coupled to an oscillator core (such as those described further above with respect to Figs. 1 A-1 E) in accordance with embodiments of the invention. Fig. 4C illustrates the radiation efficiency of the antenna at the 5 ^th harmonic. Radiation efficiency ranges from 30 to 52% in the 400- to-460GHz range using hemispherical silicon lens. Radiation pattern is measured by using a step motor with half-degree precision, and the results are shown at 424.77 and 614.3GHz. The estimated directivity at these frequencies is 23 and 27dBi. Although particular architectures of intercouple oscillators and radiating arrays are discussed above, one skilled in the art will recognize that a number of architectures may be implemented in accordance with embodiments of the invention as appropriate to any specific application.

Measurements

[0051] A micro-graph of a die in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 5. In many embodiments, the design can be fabricated in a GlobalFoundries 90nm SiGe BiCMOS 9HP process with a total area of 0.98 mm ² (excluding pads). The power consumption of the chip is 400mW. The measurement setup for frequency-domain characterization is illustrated in Fig. 6 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The received tones at 424.77 and 614.3GHz are -33.4 and -56.4dBm, which correspond to the EIRP of 18.1 and 1.4dBm respectively, taking into account of the polarization loss factor, VDI SAX conversion loss, and cable loss. VDI SAX is calibrated using a PM5 power meter and a VDI WR2.2 source. Additionally, EIRP fluctuates less than 6dB over the ~40GHz bandwidth. Note that the oscillation is sustained over more than a ~60GHz frequency-tuning range. The measured phase noise of the radiated tone at 424.77GHz is -104dBc/Hz at a 10MHz offset frequency in the free-running mode. Although the antenna is optimized for the 5th harmonic radiation, significant radiation is observed at higher odd harmonics as illustrated in Fig. 6.

[0052] Figs. 7A-7B illustrate formation of a loop antenna by T-lines and demonstration of wireless locking using an external source at the fundamental frequency in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As shown in Fig. 7A, the T-line network, which connects the oscillators to each other can form a loop antenna at fO enabling synchronization by a wireless external source. Individual oscillators may oscillate at own frequency and cancel each other out. Hence, they are coupled through highly optimized T-lines such that they oscillate at the same frequency with locked phases. To demonstrate this feature, an external source at ~88 GHz with 10 dBm radiated power can be used. Fig. 7B shows the spectrum and phase noise after locking by an external source. In this case the locking range is ~200 MHz using 10-dBm source with 25 dBi antenna gain at 20-cm distance from the top side of the chip. Although Fig. 7A-7B illustrate a particular formation of a loop antenna by T-lines, any of a variety of formations can be utilized as appropriate to the requirements of a specific application in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

[0053] Fig. 8 illustrates a comparison between silicon-based THz sources. Many embodiments of the system provide one of the highest EIRP while benefiting from smaller array size, less power consumption, and less chip area. In addition, in many embodiments, using interlocked oscillator can allow scaling up the design and significantly improve the phase noise performance. In many embodiments, with the phase noise of -104 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz offset, report one of the lowest numbers compared to other works with free running oscillators. Furthermore, in many embodiments, due to employed architecture of the interlocked oscillators, the chip with more than 14 % frequency tuning range, achieves one of the highest numbers amongst previous works and can cover more than 60 GHz in THz band.

[0054] Although specific methods of fabricating a highly power efficient p-i-n diodebased THz radiating array are discussed above, many different fabrication methods can be implemented in accordance with many different embodiments of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that the present invention may be practiced in ways other than specifically described, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Thus, embodiments of the present invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their equivalents.