A 30-40 GHz 1:16 Internally Matched SiGe Active Power Divider for Phased Array Transmitters

In this paper, we present an active 1:16 30-40 GHz power divider implemented in a 0.18 mum SiGe BiCMOS process (Jazz SBC18HXL). The 2 x 2 mm² power divider exhibits 4.5 plusmn 1.5 dB total power gain with an rms phase imbalance of less than 6deg from 30 to 40 GHz across all 16 channels. This performance is achieved using wideband degenerated 1:4 splitters, and internal matching between the inter-stage on-chip splitters. The chip consumes 190 mA from a 3.3 V supply, and is 15x smaller than an equivalent Teflon-based PCB transmission-line 1:16 power divider. To our knowledge, this is the first 1:16 Ka-Band active power divider implemented in a commercial SiGe BiCMOS technology, and shows excellent amplitude and phase balance over the 30-40 GHz range.