Submillimeter-Wave Integrated Receiver Modules Based on Quasi-Vertical Schottky Diodes 37 views

The terahertz frequency band (~0.1 – 10 THz), sometimes referred to as the submillimeter-wave region (300 GHz-3 THz), holds an important role for applications such as radio astronomy, telecommunications, and biophysics. However, due to challenges in the generation of power and measurement of devices and components designed for operation in this spectrum, attempts to fully utilize this band are difficult to implement. This dissertation presents work on three submillimeter-wave receiver components based on integrated quasi-vertical Schottky diodes: 1) a high-order frequency quadrupler operating at 520 GHz, 2) an 80 GHz prototype of a novel balanced planar frequency doubler topology, and 3) a detector based reflectometer for scattering parameter measurement in the WR-3.4 band (220-330 GHz). The frequency multipliers and the reflectometer prototypes are designed with Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) quasi-vertical Schottky diodes heterogeneously integrated onto silicon using a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) based process. While the fabrication process sets design constraints, the focus of this effort is on the design techniques utilized for submillimeter-wave frequency receiver components utilizing this device technology. The quasi-vertical Schottky diode structure has been observed to exhibit lower series-resistance as well as superior thermal performance and power handling compared to planar devices. The first part of this dissertation focuses on the quadrupler, which is designed as a balanced, fully integrated cascaded doubler topology. Unlike the standard quadrupler implementation of cascading two individual frequency doublers, this topology integrates the two stages onto a single chip and waveguide block, reducing its physical footprint. The balanced architecture directs any reflected power due to impedance mismatch into an isolated dump port, which is beneficial at submillimeter wave frequencies where the power level required at the source is often significant and reflected power can pull preceding multiplier stages from their optimum operating point. The second part of this dissertation focuses on a novel balanced planar frequency doubler topology. Traditional planar frequency doublers require either the use of an idler to filter the odd harmonics or a balun to transition from an unbalanced transmission line to a balanced signal. The dual slotline to coplanar waveguide topology is introduced in this dissertation, which utilizes two slotlines in parallel to pump two sets of balanced doublers simultaneously. The third part of this dissertation focusses on network analysis and the six port reflectometer. Network analysis at the WR-3.4 waveguide band can be realized using a six-port reflectometer. This work presents a submillimeter design utilizing the sampled line circuit topology where sampling diode detectors are placed along a transmission line. The reflectometer can be integrated with a probe to allow for on-wafer scattering parameter measurements. A six-port reflectometer operating at the WR-3.4 band is designed using quasi-vertical Schottky diodes sampling a stripline transmission line which transitions to waveguide. Finally, the calibration process which can be used for a WR-3.4 six-port network analyzer is presented.

PHD (Doctor of Philosophy)

Schottky Diode; Submillimeter Wave; Frequency Quadrupler; Frequency Doubler; Six Port Reflectometer

English

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2026-09-13