Picosecond impulse radiating arrays in silicon

In this work, two digital-to-impulse radiating chips are reported that produce and radiate electromagnetic impulses with duration of less than 10psec and repetition frequency of 10GHz. These chips are based on fully electronic methods; no laser is used. The first chip uses a single-ended slot-bowtie antenna with a current switch to radiate impulses with record pulse-width of 8psec and EIRP of 13dBm. The radiation of this chip is coupled to air through a silicon lens attached to the backside of the substrate. The second chip uses a differential slot-bowtie antenna with an active feed to radiate impulses with record pulse-width of 9psec and EIRP of 10dBm. Both chips are fabricated in a 130nm SiGe BiCMOS process technology.