Programmable picosecond pulse generator in CMOS

In this paper, a scalable and reconfigurable architecture is presented for digitally programmable sub-THz waveform generation in CMOS. The architecture allows individual control of both amplitudes and phases of harmonic frequencies beyond f_max to achieve waveform shaping. This is enabled through controlled interference of multiple traveling-waves with rich harmonic components and delays. As an example, inspired from mode-locked laser, picosecond pulse generation is demonstrated in CMOS with a measured pulse-width of 2.6ps and 0.46 mW output power for the pulse train. To the best of the authors´ knowledge, this is the smallest pulse width demonstrated in integrated circuit technology with additional capability of dynamic reconfiguration. The chip is fabricated in 65nm LP CMOS process.