A High Isolation On-Off Keying CMOS Modulator for mm-Wave Applications

Abstract

This paper proposes a CMOS On-Off Keying (OOK) modulator optimized for millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) applications, featuring a novel triple-stacked transistor configuration to isolate the output load from carrier leakage current, thereby enhancing circuit isolation. A middle transistor body bias is adjusted to increase the modulator forward gain by about 0.7 dB. Simulation results indicate that the modulator achieves an isolation of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$59 d B$</tex>, supports data rates up to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$10 G b / s$</tex>, a conversion gain of 0 dB, and an output <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$1-d B$</tex> compression point (OP1dB) of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$-\mathbf{5} \boldsymbol{d} \boldsymbol{B} \boldsymbol{m}$</tex>. Implemented using <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{0. 1 8}-\boldsymbol{\mu} \boldsymbol{m}$</tex> CMOS technology, the design occupies a silicon active area of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$0.667 \times 0.185 \text{mm}^{2}$</tex> and consumes a DC power of <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathbf{1 0} \boldsymbol{m W}$</tex>.