Tonio Biondi

A lumped scalable model for silicon integrated spiral inductors

A lumped scalable model for spiral inductors in silicon bipolar technology has been developed. The effect of three different cross sections on inductor performance was first investigated by comparing experimental measurements. Using both the results of this analysis and three-dimensional electromagnetic simulation guidelines, several circular inductors were integrated on a radial patterned ground shield for model validation purposes. The model employs a novel equation for series resistance with only one fitting parameter extracted from experimental measurements. All other model elements were related to technological and geometrical data by using rigorous analytical equations. The model was validated using one- and two-port measured performance parameters of 45 integrated inductors, and excellent agreement was found for all considered geometries up to frequencies well above self-resonance.

A scalable model for silicon spiral inductors

A simple model for monolithic spiral inductors on silicon substrates is presented. Each lumped element of the model is related to the layout geometry by analytical equations. Moreover, a novel equation for series resistance is also proposed. The model was validated by comparisons with on-wafer measurements over a wide range of geometrical layout parameters.

A 1.8-GHz high-efficiency 34-dBm silicon bipolar power amplifier

The low-voltage power capabilities of a low-cost high-performance silicon bipolar process were investigated. By optimizing the emitter finger layout, epilayer thickness, and collector doping level, efficiency values up to 83% were achieved by on-wafer load-pull measurements on a single-cell test device operating at 1.8 GHz and 2.7-V power supply. The detrimental effect of the emitter distributed resistance on the current capability of long-emitter bipolar transistors was also considered.. An analytical model for a proper device design was derived and experimentally validated. Using the optimized unit power device, a 1.8-GHz 2.7-V three-stage monolithic power amplifier was implemented, which provides a 57% power-added efficiency and a 33-dB gain while delivering a 34-dBm output power to the load.

A silicon bipolar technology for high-efficiency power applications up to C-band

This paper presents the large-signal characterization and modeling of a 0.8-/spl mu/m 46-GHz-f/sub T/ silicon bipolar technology for RF power applications up to C-band. A series of devices with optimized layout and vertical structure was fabricated for on-wafer load-pull testing at 1.9 GHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5.2 GHz. Under continuous-wave operation, a 56% power-added efficiency and 11-dB large-signal gain were achieved at a 22-dBm output power level by an 80-/spl mu/m emitter length device (180-/spl mu/m/sup 2/ emitter area) operating at 5.2 GHz with a 2.7-V supply voltage. A modified Gummel-Poon model was extracted from DC and multibias S-parameter measurements and validated by comparisons with load-pull results. Close agreement was found between simulated and measured large-signal performance up to power levels well above the 1-dB compression point.

Integrated Inductors and Transformers: Characterization, Design and Modeling for RF and MM-Wave Applications

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The transformer characteristic resistance and its application to the performance analysis of silicon integrated transformers

In this paper a novel figure of merit for the rating of integrated transformers is presented. The proposed parameter provides a more reliable performance characterization compared to previously reported ones (i.e., insertion loss and maximum available gain), since it is inherently related to the maximization of the available output power in tuned-load RF circuits. The new figure of merit is used to evaluate the effect of different substrate management approaches on the performance of silicon integrated transformers.

Experimental comparison of substrate structures for inductors and transformers

An experimental comparison of the substrate structures for silicon inductive devices is proposed. On-wafer measurements for both inductors and stacked transformers revealed that better performance is achieved by exploiting a n/sup +/-doped buried layer as a patterned ground shield. The proposed solution increases inductor quality factor and allows a wide operative bandwidth for transformers to be achieved, as well. Moreover, owing to a well-defined RF ground reference, cross-talk phenomena are inherently reduced. Finally, the buried layer patterned ground shield highly simplifies substrate modeling and allows accurate electromagnetic simulations to be easily carried out.

A 18-GHz silicon bipolar VCO with transformer-based resonator

A silicon bipolar voltage-controlled oscillator for 17-GHz ISM band is presented. The VCO is composed of a core oscillating at 9 GHz followed by a frequency doubler. It adopts a transformer-based topology to obtain both wide tuning range and low noise performance. The VCO exhibits a tuning range of 4.1 GHz from 16.4 to 20.5 GHz and a phase noise as low as -109 dBc/Hz at a 1-MHz frequency offset from a carrier of 18.5 GHz. To design and optimize the resonator, a lumped scalable model for differentially driven inductors and transformers was used. This model is presented and validated up to 20 GHz by comparison with experimental data

Analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors on silicon

In this paper, the analysis and modeling of thick-metal spiral inductors are addressed. The actual improvements of metal thickening in terms of quality factor are evaluated and related to skin and proximity effects. The inductance decrease due to metal thickening is also investigated and modeled using a modified current-sheet expression. The proposed formula achieves higher accuracy compared to the original one revealing errors below 5% even for thickness-to-width ratio up to 2.5.

Characterization and modeling of sub-nH integrated inductances

This paper presents the characterization and modeling of sub-nH radial patterned around shield circular inductors fabricated in a silicon bipolar technology for RF applications. The accuracy of experimental data in the range 0.3-0.8 nH is first validated by comparing the measured low-frequency inductance with 2D/sup 1///sub 2/ EM simulations. Based on the above results, the well-known current sheet expression for circular spirals is revised and modified to improve its accuracy at lower inductance values. Finally, the original and modified expressions are employed in a lumped scalable model for integrated inductors. Comparisons between simulations and measurements revealed that the modified expression allows error reductions as large as 20% with respect to the original one on both the inductance and quality factor.