A New 5–13 GHz Slow-Wave SPDT Switch With Reverse-Saturated SiGe HBTs

This letter describes the analysis, design, and measured results of a fully integrated single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switch developed in 0.25-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> silicon– germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS process technology, which features SiGe HBTs with peak <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f_{T}/f_{{{\text {max}}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 110/180 GHz. The switch is designed based on a shunt–shunt topology with a combination of various design and layout optimization approaches to improve the insertion loss (IL), isolation, and power handling capability. The designed switch including the applied techniques results in a measured IL of 2.3 dB and isolation of 32 dB at 8 GHz. The switch is able to attain a state-of-the-art input referred 1-dB compression point (IP<sub>1 dB</sub>) up to 30 dBm while drawing a current of 3 mA from a 6 V supply. The die has an area of only <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$775\,\,\mu \text {m}\,\,\times 820\,\,\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. To the author’s knowledge, the presented work is the first SPDT switch ever reported, that incorporates slow-wave transmission lines and reverse-saturated heterojunction bipolar transistors at the specified frequency range.

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