互補式傳導表面之分析、設計與應用 暨 全平面式Ka-band次諧波混頻器

Abstract

本篇論文的第一部份敘述一項正在申請專利中的技術之分析、設計與應用，此技術名為互補式傳導表面積體電路波導結構。互補式傳導表面是由一金屬平面與連接分支構成，同時互補式的蝕刻掉在金屬片下方的地面。在數值分析上，本文利用有限元素法計算此種結構，並且粹取出實際電路設計中需要的各項傳輸參數，如：特性阻抗及傳播常數。互補式傳導表面所擁有的低損耗、適當阻抗及單一平面特性的優點，使其極有潛力成為具有慢波特性的傳輸線。此外，藉由單位細胞元之間的二維週期式矩陣排列，可製造出緊密的互補式傳導表面傳輸線來降低積體電路中分散式元件所佔的面積。本文並說明了兩個在單晶積體電路上的應用。第一個應用是利用0.25-mm 1P5M CMOS製程，並根據一種新型的分散式電路設計方法來設計的全整合化之5.2 GHz振盪器。量測結果顯示輸出功率為–25.3 dBm，相位雜訊在距載波1 MHz處為–96.33 dBc/Hz。第二個應用是利用0.15-mm GaAs PHEMT製程設計的分散式放大器，其模擬出的頻寬從DC-60 GHz，小訊號增益為12 dB，此一電路所需的電壓為8 V，消耗的電流為89 mA，所佔據的面積為1.2 mm × 1.2 mm。上述的兩個應用成功地證明了利用互補式傳導表面技術來製造擁有良好特性、低成本及緊密特性的微波及毫米波單晶積體電路之潛力。 本篇論文的第二部份敘述一個利用新型平面式矩型波導濾波器製做的Ka-band次諧波混頻器。此電路工作在本地振盪源為15 GHz，中頻範圍為1.5 GHz到3 GHz，射頻範圍為31.5 GHz到33 GHz。本文在射頻端放置一平面式的矩型波導濾波器以抑制鏡像信號及提供良好的射頻埠至本地振盪源埠及中頻埠之隔絕性。此濾波器是利用傳統的多層印刷電路板製程製做，並且使用兩個平面式的微帶線至波導模態轉換器連接兩種傳輸結構。此一混波器在本地振盪源4 dBm的情形下，在所包含的頻帶中所測量出最大的上頻帶轉換損耗為11.4 dB，並且在中頻為2 GHz時，有一最小的轉換損耗為9.7 dB。此一混頻器所擁有具吸引力的特性證明了利用多層印刷電路板製程來製做全平面式、良好特性及低成本的毫米波模組之可行性。

Part I of this thesis describes the analyses, design, and applications of a patent pending technology called complementary-conducting-surface (CCS) integrated circuit guiding structure. The CCS structure is made of a metal pad with connecting branches while the ground plane underneath the metal pad is etched complementarily. This structure has been numerically computed by the finite-element method. The transmission parameters, such as characteristic impedance and propagation constant, have been extracted for the practical circuit design. The advantages of low loss, moderate impedance, and uniplanar features make the CCS structure a promising candidate as a slow-wave transmission line. Moreover, by the two-dimensional periodic array arrangement of the unit cells, a compact CCS transmission line can be constructed to reduce the dimension of distributed components in integrated circuits (ICs). Two applications on the monolithic ICs technology are addressed. The first is a fully integrated 5.2 GHz oscillator, which is based on a new distributed circuit design methodology, in a 0.25-mm 1P5M CMOS technology. Measured results reveal that an output power of –25.3 dBm with the phase noise of –96.33 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from the carrier is achieved. The second is a DC-60 GHz 12 dB gain distributed amplifier in a 0.15-mm GaAs PHEMT technology. The circuit draws a current of 89 mA from a supply of 8 V and occupies an area of 1.2 mm × 1.2 mm. The above two applications successfully illustrate the potential of making high-performance, low-lost, and compact microwave and millimeter-wave monolithic ICs using the CCS technology. Part II of this thesis describes a Ka-band sub-harmonic mixer utilizing a new planar rectangular waveguide filter. The circuit is designed to operate at an LO frequency of 15 GHz, an IF range of 1.5 GHz to 3 GHz, and an RF range of 31.5 GHz to 33 GHz. A planar waveguide filter is placed at the RF side of the mixer to reject the image signal and to provide good RF to LO/IF isolation. The proposed filter is fabricated using conventional multi-layer printed-circuit-board (PCB) fabrication process and employs two planar microstrip-to-waveguide mode converters between the two transmission structures. The measured maximum upper side band (USB) up-conversion loss of the mixer over the complete frequency range is 11.4 dB at an LO power of 4 dBm while the minimum USB up-conversion loss is 9.7 dB at an IF of 2 GHz. This attractive performance of the mixer demonstrates the feasibility of making all-planar, well-performing, and low-cost millimeter-wave modules via the multi-layer PCB process.