From RF to MM-Wave and THz Silicon SOC Technologies
RF2THzSiSoC
Objective
The CATRENE RF2THzSiSoC project aims to establish a technology platform for cost-effective implementation of consumer and infrastructure applications in the field of high frequency, millimeter-wave and terahertz technology. Research and development activities within this project address the next demonstrator systems: 76-81 GHz automotive radar, 122 GHz industrial sensors, 100 GS/s analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, 400 Gbit/s optical communication system, photonic transceiver for 4G mobile communication system and bidirectional system for satellite communications. Moreover, the project aims to create a technology platform for various millimeter-wave and terahertz applications from different disciplines such as medical device technology, materials science, genetic screening, or industrial automation.
IHP's Contribution
The task of IHP in the RF2THzSiSoC project is to develop system components in the existing SiGe BiCMOS technology for realization of the photonic transceiver for a 4G mobile communication system. For this reason, the photonic functionality has to be integrated in an IHP-BiCMOS technology. The integration should include waveguides, photodetectors and grids at wavelength of 1300-1600 nm and will be done at the transistor-level in order to use the high-speed properties of the technology efficiently. To achieve this objective, the development of a local SOI waveguide technology has to be performed in addition to the usual integrated electronics. Furthermore, a process should offer fast (20GHz) germanium photodiodes. Finally, test designs of the optical receiver with an integrated Ge photodiode will contribute to the photonic transceiver demonstrator for a 4G mobile communication system.
Funding
This research is funded by the federal ministry of education and research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF).
Project Partners
Agilent
Alcatel-Lucent Deutschland
Bosch
Fraunhofer IIS
MICRAM
Saarland University
Silicon Radar
Technische Universität Berlin
Technische Universität Dresden
Selected Publications
D. Knoll, S. Lischke, L. Zimmermann, B. Heinemann et al., “Monolithically Integrated 25Gbit/sec Receiver for 1.55μm in Photonic BiCMOS Technology,” in Proc. Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC), 2014.
