Silicon Monolithic Millimeterwave Integrated Circuits

Silicon monolithic millimeterwave integrated circuits (SIMMWICs) for frequencies up to above 100 GHz are discussed. In silicon circuits IMPATT diodes may be used as the active devices whereas mixer and detector circuits may be realized with Schottky diodes. IMPATT diodes as well as Schottky diodes may be integrated in planar monolithic silicon technology. In the frequency region above 60 GHz planar antenna structures may be integrated within monolithic silicon circuits. The design and the relization of planar millimeterwave circuits on silicon, including also antenna structures are discussed. Experimental results with different millimeterwave integrated circuits are presented. With planar silicon IMPATT oscillators above 70 GHz cw output power of 200 mW has been achieved. A monolithic 93 GHz receiver with a planar 36 element antenna on a 5, 4 ∗ 5, 6 mm² silicon substrate has a sensitivity of 65μVμW^-1cm². An outlook on future applications of SIMMWICs is given.