Hiroki Sakurai

A 1.5GHz-modulation-range 10ms-modulation-period 180kHz rms -frequency-error 26MHz-reference mixed-mode FMCW synthesizer for mm-wave radar application

A frequency modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar using triangular modulation is one of the promising candidates for realizing a CMOS radar IC [1–3]. Range and velocity resolutions of the FMCW radar are determined by the bandwidth and period of triangular modulation [4]. A short-range measurement requires wide (several GHz) bandwidth, while a long-range measurement with high-velocity resolution requires moderate (hundreds of MHz) bandwidth and long (several ms) period. Furthermore, since frequency error in the FMCW signal deteriorates range and velocity accuracy, a highly linear frequency chirp signal is required. However FMCW radars reported so far [2,3] exhibit a period up to 1.5ms because a long period degrades the chirp linearity in a conventional analog PLL. In this work, an analog/digital mixed-mode 82GHz FMCW synthesizer with 1.5GHz bandwidth, a period from 1ms to 10ms and less than 180kHzrms frequency error is described. The achieved performance corresponds to range and velocity resolutions of 10cm and 1.4km/h, respectively.

A −70dBm-sensitivity 522Mbps 0.19nJ/bit-TX 0.43nJ/bit-RX transceiver for TransferJet™ SoC in 65nm CMOS

TransferJet™ is an emerging high-speed close-proximity wireless communication standard, which enables a data transfer of up to 522Mbps within a few centimeters range. We have developed a fully integrated TransferJet SoC with a 4.48-GHz operating frequency and a 560-MHz bandwidth (BW) using 65nm CMOS technology. Baseband filtering techniques for both a transmitter (TX) and a receiver (RX) are proposed to obtain a sensitivity of -70dBm with low power consumption. The SoC achieves an energy per bit of 0.19nJ/bit and 0.43nJ/bit for the TX and the RX, respectively, We have also built the worlds smallest module prototype using the SoC, which is suitable for small mobile devices.

Metallic Contamination Control in Leading-Edge ULSI Manufacturing

Contamination control has become a high-centered issue for the fabrication yield, performance and reliability of leading-edge ULSI devices. With the progress of sizing down dimensions in higher-density devices, complicated device structures and various novel electronic materials have been introduced, particularly in the latest devices such as CMOS and nonvolatile memory LSIs (Table I). On the other hand, high productivity is a necessity when you consider QTAT (quick turnaround time) and cost-effective flexible ULSI manufacturing lines. Therefore, effective contamination control coupled with adequate protocol has become essential in such production lines. The point of the protocol is minimization of damage caused by impurity metals diffused from these novel electronic materials [1-5].

Characterization of metallic impurities for the ULSI fabrication process

It is one of the key points for the Agile Fab concept that the process equipment is shared for several processes. On the other hand, new metals tend to be applied for the latest DRAM, FeRAM and logic devices. Therefore, we investigated the behavior of these new metals to derive a protocol for Agile-Fab. We evaluated their electrical properties and diffusion behavior. It is necessary to construct a suitable protocol using the result, and to control metallic contamination.