200-280GHz CMOS RF Front-End of Transmitter for Rotational Spectroscopy

Abstract

A 200-280 GHz RF front-end of transmitter is demonstrated in 65-nm CMOS. Saturated EIRP is greater than -5dBm over a frequency range of 60GHz. When the input power is -20dBm, EIRP is greater than -10dBm for most of the frequency range, and achieves 3-dB and 6-dB bandwidths of 24% and 33%. The front-end was integrated with a fractional-N synthesizer to form a transmitter operating at 208-255GHz with EIRP of -18 to -11dBm. The transmitter and a CMOS receiver are used for rotational spectroscopy and to detect ethanol in human breath.