A 30GHz impulse radiator with on-chip antennas for high-resolution 3D imaging

This paper reports a 30-GHz impulse radiator utilizing an injection-locked asymmetric cross-coupled voltage-control-oscillator (VCO) with on-chip bow-tie antennas. The impulse radiator converts a digital trigger signal to a radiated impulse with a variable pulse-width down to 60psec with peak EIRP of 15.2dBm without using any lens. Coherent spatial pulse combining is demonstrated by using two widely spaced radiators. A timing jitter of the 216fsec for the combined signal is measured. The impulse radiator has the capability of producing 3D images with depth resolution of 33μm at 25cm of target distance in the air. The chip is implemented in a 0.13μm SiGe BiCMOS process technology. The total die area is 2.85mm² with maximum power consumption of 106mW.