INTEGRATED RF COMPONENTS IN A SIGE BIPOLAR TECHNOLOGY

Several components for the design of monolithic RF transceivers on sil icon substrates are presented and discussed, They are integrated in a manufacturable analog SiGe bipolar technology without any significant process alterations, Spiral inductors have inductance values in the ra nge of similar to 0.15-80 nH with typical maximum quality-factors (Q(m ax)) of 3-20, The Q(max's) are highest if the doping concentration und er the inductors is kept minimum, It is shown that the inductor area i s an important parameter toward optimization of Q(max) at a given freq uency, The inductors can be represented in circuit design by a simple lumped-element model, MOS capacitors have Q's of similar to 20/f (GHz) /C(pF), metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors reach Q's of similar to 80/f(GHz)/C(pF), and varactors with a 40% tuning range have Q's of si milar to 70/f(GHz)/C(pF). Those devices can be modeled by using lumped elements as well, The accuracy of the modeling is verified by compari ng the simulated and the measured high-frequency characteristics of a fully integrated, passive-element bandpass filter.