High-Performance mm-Wave and Wideband Large-Signal Amplifiers Yi Zhao

211 Pages·2013·13.53 MB·English

High-Performance mm-Wave and
Wideband Large-Signal Amplifiers
Yi Zhao

High-Performance mm-Wave and
Wideband Large-Signal Amplifiers
Proefschrift
ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor
aan de Technische Universiteit Delft,
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. ir. K.C.A.M. Luyben,
voorzitter van het College voor Promoties,
in het openbaar te verdedigen
op donderday 24 oktober 2013 om 12:30 uur
door
YI ZHAO
elektrotechnisch ingenieur
geboren te Mengzhou, China.
Dit proefschrift is goedgekeurd door de promotor:
Prof. dr. J. R. Long
Samenstelling promotiecommissie:
Rector Magnificus voorzitter
Prof. dr. J. R. Long Technische Universiteit Delft, promotor
Prof. dr. P. Ferrari Universit´e de Grenoble
Prof. dr. ir. M. M¨oller Universit¨at des Saarlandes
Prof. dr. F. Svelto Universit´a degli Studi di Pavia
Prof. dr. ir. F. E. van Vliet Universiteit Twente
Prof. dr. R. B. Staszewski Technische Universiteit Delft
Dr. M. Spirito Technische Universiteit Delft
Reservelid:
Prof. dr. A. Neto Technische Universiteit Delft
ISBN 978-94-6186-204-4
Copyright c 2013 by YI ZHAO
(cid:13)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form
of by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without any prior permission
of the copyright owner.
Keywords: passive-aided RF and mm-wave circuit design, power amplifier, power combiner,
optical modulator driver, distributed amplifier, transformer, transmission line.
Printed in the Netherlands
To my father and my brother
“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small
things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.”
Alvin Toffler
Preface
In hindsight, my 5-year Ph.D. trajectory can be divided into three periods. The first two
and half years of the research was supported in part by the European MEDEA+ project
Silicon Analogue to Millimeter-wave Technologies (SIAM). The seed for developing advanced
on-chip passive components was sown at the very beginning of that period, and several mm-
wave power combiners and amplifiers then came into being. After the SIAM project ended
in 2011, I continued my work on the passive-aided large-signal amplifier design, when the
wideband distributed amplifier for optical fiber communication was developed. In 2012, I had
the opportunity to work for IBM USA on benchmarking the newly developed SiGe-BiCMOS
technology. However, only a small part of the work is included in this thesis due to changes
in schedule.
I have to admit that my love for power amplifiers did not start at first sight. I had imag-
ined a more ‘ambitious’ and challenging task, e.g., developing a fully-integrated, multiband,
multifunctional transceiver. However, it did not take me long to realize addressing the fun-
damental problems in a circuit building block can be just as challenging. The design of a
fully-digital Mach-Zenhder modulator driver later on extends the research scope into the
system level, satisfying my desire for a more complicated design from the first place.
The completion of this thesis involves a lot more than just financial resources and my hard
work. Many important people have contributed in one way or another to it along the way
and I want to express my sincere gratitude towards them.
My first and deepest gratitude goes to my promotor and advisor, Prof. John R. Long. Your
knowledge and expertise have inspired me to pursue a Ph.D. degree. It was during one of our
last meetings in NXP Semiconductors in Eindhoven you presented me the opportunity to
work on the SIAM project. Your guidance, supervision, encouragement, time and efforts in
alltheseyearsarehighlyappreciated.John,Ioweyoumuchformyprofessionaldevelopment,
for my (yet) still-improving technical writing skills, and for career opportunities outside of
the university. The small talks in Delft, the lunchtime chats at IBM cafeteria, the dinnertime
laughters in Vermont, and your sense of humor will also be greatly missed. Also, thank you
for making such a big effort to be at my wedding!
Iwouldliketothankthemembersofmydoctoralexaminationcommitteefortheircomments,
discussions, time and efforts.
My colleague and officemate, Marco Spirito, thank you for your company in the office. More
importantly,thankyouforallthefruitfuldiscussionsandyourtremendoussupportintesting.
I remember very well the many hours we spent in our lab on the 18th floor working on PA
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large-signal measurement. On this matter, I would also like to thank Atef Akhnoukh and
Wil Straver. Atef, you may be the most patient and cautious person I have ever known so
far. Thanks for your time and efforts on arranging MPW tapeouts and helping me through
many testing occasions and catch deadlines. Wil, you are a great technician! I admire your
skills and experiences in test fixture assembly. You seem always having a solution to my
problems such as using a brass screw as the heat sink for the modulator driver.
There are so many colleagues, Ph.D. students and friends, who have made my life in the
Netherlands easier and more pleasant. Wanghua, we always seem to have so much to talk
about. Thanks for being here, for your company and understanding. We will continue our
friendshipinMarvell,inCalifornia.Yanyu,webothparticipatedintheSIAMproject.Thanks
for all the discussions and helpful tips. Coby, our bond rooted long ago in Fudan University
in 2001. Thanks for being a friend I can always turn to far away from home. Leonardo, a
special thanks to you for being together with me in the American adventure and helping me
outwheneverneeded.OurfriendshipstartedlatebutIhopeitgrowsdeep.Yuanyuan,thanks
for sharing the apartment with me. The 3 years we spent together in the Beethovenlaan,
Delft are very crucial for the progress on my Ph.D. study. Marion, our secretary, thanks for
taking care of all the paperwork and bringing positive energy to our group. Antoon, thank
you for solving all my computer problems and answering my somewhat related but silly
questions. Zu-yao Zhang, the technician from the 13th floor, thanks for helping me out of
a couple of emergency situations for deadlines. Koen Buisman, thanks for your support in
NPNtransistorandtemperaturemeasurement.ArturoSantaniello,thanksforyourworkand
efforts on helping me with the PA large-signal measurement. My other Italian colleagues,
Gennaro Gentile, Mauro Marchetti, Michele Squillante and Luca, thank you for your kind
company and support in the labs, where I spent lots of hours.
I would prefer to mention everybody one by one if possible. Nevertheless, all other staff
members and colleagues: Prof. Bogdan Staszewski, Dr. Leo de Vreede, Dr. Wouter Serdijn,
Dr. Chris Verhoeven, Loek, Akshay, Nitz, Sharon, Chan, Morteza, Masoud, Massoud, Iman,
Ali, Cong, Rui, Duan, Yongjia, Yao, Ruimin, Qinwen, Chi, David, Marijn, Senad, Wannaya,
Cees-Jeroen, Mark, Andre and whoever I may forget, thanks for your company and for
creating such a nice and pleasant academic environment. Cees-Jeroen and Mark, thanks for
the help in translating my propositions and summary.
I spent almost one and a half years in Essex Junction, Vermont, USA, where I met and made
some new friends, whom I also wish to thank. Kurt and Donna, ‘my American parents’, you
make Nico and me feel very special, feel like part of the family. Thank you for your care,
support, and hospitality. Kurt, a special thanks to you for getting my H-1B visa arranged,
which smooths my transition from Europe to USA. Jeff and Biz, many thanks for your
advice, experience sharing, great food and hospitality. I look forward to going with you to
Maine for the lobster festival. Jack, thanks for all your support on tapeouts and at IBM, and
thanks to the family as well for being a great host. David, thank you for the opportunity to
work with the team and for everything you did for me at IBM. Also, thank you and Mary-
Lou for inviting us to the house and I owe you my first experience with the Super Bowl
game. Anna, thank you for getting me out of a ‘home-less’ situation in Vermont. Thanks for
Preface ix
sharing the apartment, for your company, sweetness and everything. Thomas, many thanks
for answering all of the HBT modeling related questions, and your company in Vermont.
Look forward to meeting you (often) in California. Pui, Yun and Lin, thanks for sharing
your life and hanging out with me outside work, and also thanks to Bob and Santosh for
joining our team. All my other friends: Peter, Kelly, Will, Yan, Zhenzhen, Yanting, Beth
Ann, Andy, Laura, Chaojiang, Daniel and others to be mentioned, thank you all for making
my stay in Vermont richer and more wonderful!
My family in China, I am so lucky to have you in my life! Thank you for all of the uncon-
ditional love and support you have given me all the past years, for which I am eternally
grateful. A special thanks to my brother and sister-in-law, thank you for taking care of our
family while I am so far away. My family-in-law in the Netherlands, thank you for loving me
as a family, as a daughter, and as a sister.
Nico, my date-boyfriend-fianc´e-husband, your role in my life has changed a few times in the
past 5 years, but what a solid support you are to me never changes. Thank you for all of
it, for bearing the occasional long working days and nights, for comforting and motivating
me, for your hard work in LATEX, SketchUp, Illustrator and translation. Also, thank you for
leaving the family and going on a new adventure with me to the USA!
To myself, I have longed for this moment. Well, it seems about time to close this life chapter.
Cherishing all my experiences in the past years, I will start a new journey with great passion
and the dream to know more about everything.
Yi Zhao
October 2013, Schiedam
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