An ultra-low-power-consumption high-speed GaAs quasi-differentialswitch flip-flop (QD-FF)

The developed GaAs static flip-flop operates at a data rate of 10 Gb/s with a power consumption of 2.8 mW at a supply voltage of 0.6 V. The power consumption at 10 Gb/s is 1/3 that of the lowest reported value for D-FFs. A divider using the QD-FF configuration operates at a clock frequency of 16 GHz with a power consumption of 2.4 mW at a supply voltage of 0.6 V. The power-delay product is about one-third that of the lowest reported value for dividers     

A 10-GHz frequency divider using selectively doped heterostructure transistors

We report the first complementary clocked frequency divider using dual gate selectively doped heterostructure transistors (SDHT's). The circuit employs a master-slave flip-flop design which consists of four direct coupled AND-NOR gates. The nominal gate length and the gate-gate, separation in the dual gate SDHT's are 1 µm. A maximum dividing frequency of 10.1 GHz at 77 K was achieved; at this frequency the circuit dissipated 49.9 mW at 1.67-V bias. This is the highest operating frequency reported for static frequency dividers at any temperature. At room temperature the dividers were operated successfully at frequencies up to 5.5 GHz with a total power dissipation of 34.8 mW at 1.97-V bias. The lowest speed-power product at room temperature was obtained at 5 GHz with 14.9-mW power dissipation at 1.45-V bias.     

39.5-GHz static frequency divider implemented in AlInAs/GaInAs HBTtechnology

A static divide-by-4 frequency divider operating at 39.5 GHz with a corresponding gate delay of 12.6 ps was implemented using InP-based HBT technology. The AlInAs/GaInAs HBT devices utilized in the divider incorporated a graded emitter-base (E-B) junction and had a unity gain cutoff frequency, maximum frequency of oscillation, and current gain β of 130 GHz, 91 GHz, and 39, respectively. The divider was operated with a 3-V power supply and consumed a total power of 425 mW (77 mW per flip-flop). The divider functional yield was over 90%. The operating frequency of this circuit is the highest ever reported for a static divider     

A high-speed, low-power divide-by-4 frequency divider implementedwith AlInAs/GaInAs HBT's

The authors describe the first frequency divider demonstrated using AlInAs/GaInAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). The divider (a static 1/4 divider circuit) operates up to a maximum frequency of 17.1 GHz, corresponding to a gate delay of 29 ps for a bilevel current-mode logic (CML) gate with a fan-out of 2, and a total power consumption of 67 mW (about 4.5 mW per equivalent NOR gate). These results demonstrate the potential of AlInAs/GaInAs HBTs for implementing low-power, high-speed integrated circuits     

High frequency divider circuits using ion-implanted GaAs MESFET's

A single clock master-slave frequency divider circuit was designed and fabricated using GaAs MESFET's in the direct-coupled FET logic (DCFL) circuit architecture. At room temperature, the maximum operating frequency was 6.2 GHz at a power consumption of 3.5 mW/gate. The complete divider circuit and buffer amplifier was realized in a 65 × 165 µm²area. The MESFET's were fabricated using Si ion implantion directly into GaAs wafers and used a self-aligned recessed gate. The nominal gatelength was 0.6 µm. Corresponding fabricated ring oscillator circuits showed minimum gate delays of 18.5 ps at 3.1 mW/gate for fan-out of one at 300 K and 15.2 ps at 3.5 mW/gate at 77 K.     

High-performance implanted base silicon bipolar technology for RFapplications

A 0.4 μm silicon bipolar technology for mixed digital/analog RF-applications is described. Without increasing the process complexity in comparison to current production technologies transit frequencies of 52 GHz, maximum oscillation frequencies of 65 GHz and minimum noise figures of 0.7 and 1.3 dB at 3 and 6 GHz are achieved. Emitter-coupled logic (ECL) ring oscillators have a minimum gate delay of 12 ps, the low power capability of the technology is proven by a current-mode logic (CML) power delay product of 5.2 fJ and a dynamic frequency divider operates up to 52 GHz. These results demonstrate the suitability of this technology for mobile communications up to at least 6 GHz and for high-speed optical data links at 10 Gbit/s and above     

A 2.5-V 45-Gb/s decision circuit using SiGe BiCMOS logic

A 45-Gb/s BiCMOS decision circuit operating from a 2.5-V supply is reported. The full-rate retiming flip-flop operates from the lowest supply voltage of any silicon-based flip-flop demonstrated to date at this speed. MOS and SiGe heterojunction-bipolar-transistor (HBT) current-mode logic families are compared. Capitalizing on the best features of both families, a true BiCMOS logic topology is presented that allows for operation from lower supply voltages than pure HBT implementations without compromising speed. The topology, based on a BiCMOS cascode, can also be applied to a number of millimeter-wave (mm-wave) circuits. In addition to the retiming flip-flop, the decision circuit includes a broadband transimpedance preamplifier to improve sensitivity, a tuned 45-GHz clock buffer, and a 50-/spl Omega/ output driver. The first mm-wave transformer is employed along the clock path to perform single-ended-to-differential conversion. The entire circuit, which is implemented in a production 130-nm BiCMOS process with 150-GHz f/sub T/ SiGe HBT, consumes 288 mW from a 2.5-V supply, including only 58 mW from the flip-flop.     

Low-power static frequency divider using an InP-based monolithic RTD/HBT technology

A low-power static frequency divider using an RTD/HBT MOnostable-BIstable transition Logic Element (MOBILE) scheme is proposed for the first time and operation of the circuit is demonstrated up to 20 GHz. The divided-by-two static frequency divider has been successfully implemented in an InP-based monolithic RTD/HBT IC technology. The number of devices used in the static frequency divider has been significantly reduced by using the proposed MOBILE scheme. The fabricated frequency divider operates at a clock frequency up to 20 GHz and dissipates d.c. power of 51 mW at a power supply of 3.3 V     

AC-coupled complementary push-pull ECL circuit with 34 fJ power-delay product

The authors describe the first experimental result of a high-speed low-power ECL-based AC-coupled complementary push-pull circuit. Implemented in a 0.8 mu m high-performance fully complementary bipolar technology with 50 GHz n-p-n transistors and 13 GHz p-n-p transistors, a power-delay product of 34 fJ (23.2 ps at 1.48 mW) has been achieved compared with 67 fJ (45 ps at 1.48 mW) for the n-p-n only ECL circuit.<>     

Diode-HBT-logic circuits monolithically integrable with ECl/CMLcircuits

A novel logic approach, diode-HBT logic (DHL), that is implemented with GaAlAs/GaAs HBTs and Schottky diodes to provide high-density and low-power digital circuit operation is described. This logic family was realized with the same technology used to produce emitter-coupled-logic/current-mode-logic (ECL/CML) circuits. The logic operation was demonstrated with a 19-stage ring oscillator and a frequency divider. A gate delay of 160 ps was measured with 1.1 mW of power per gate. The divider worked properly up to 6 GHz. Layouts of a DHL flip-flop and divider showed that circuit area and transistor count can be reduced by about a factor of 3, relative to ECL/CML circuits. The new logic approach allows monolithic integration of high-speed ECL/CML circuits with high-density DHL circuits with high-density DHL circuits     

A high-speed frequency divider using n+-Ge Gate AlGaAs/GaAs MISFET's

A high-speed divide-by-four static frequency divider is fabricated using n+ -Ge gate AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure MISFET's. The divider circuit consists of two master-slave T-type flip-flops (T-FF's) and an output buffer based on source-coupled FET logic (SCFL). A maximum toggle frequency of 11.3 GHz with a power dissipation of 219 mW per T-F/F is obtained at 300 K using 1.0-µm gate FET's.     

1.3 V supply voltage 38 GHz static frequency divider

An ultra-low supply voltage and low power dissipation fully static frequency InP SHBT divider operating at up to 38 GHz is reported. The fully differential parallel current switched configuration of D-latch maintains the speed advantages of CML circuits while allowing full functionality at a very low supply voltage. The frequency divider operates at up to 38 GHz at a single-ended input power of 0 dBm. The power dissipation of the toggled D-flip-flop is 8 mW at a power supply voltage of 1.3 V. The authors believe this is the lowest supply voltage for static frequency dividers around this frequency in any technology. This low power configuration is suitable for any digital integrated circuit.     

A 40-GHz static frequency divider with quadrature outputs in 80-nm CMOS

The implemented static frequency divider provides quadrature (Q) clock outputs and divides frequencies up to 44GHz. The core divider circuit consists of two current-mode logic (CML) latches and consumes 3.2mW from a 1.1-V supply. The divided outputs result in a peak-to-peak and rms jitter of 6.3 and 0.8ps, respectively, and the maximum phase mismatch between the in-phase (I) and Q-outputs amounts to 1ps at an input frequency of 40GHz. The high division frequency is achieved by employing resistive loads, inductive peaking, and optimizing the circuit layout for reduced parasitic capacitances in the latches. The core divider consumes a chip area of 30/spl mu/m/spl times/40/spl mu/m only.     

A 1-μm polysilicon self-aligning bipolar process for low-powerhigh-speed integrated circuits

A double-poly-Si self-aligning bipolar process employing 1-μm lithography is developed for very-high-speed circuit applications. Epilayer doping and thickness are optimized for breakdown voltages and good speed-power performance. Shallow base-emitter profiles are obtained by combining low-energy boron implantation and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) for the emitter drive-in. A transit frequency f_T =14 GHz at V_BC=-1 V and a current-mode-logic (CML) gate delay of 43 ps at 30 fJ are achieved. For an emitter size of 1.0×2.0 μm² a minimum power-delay product of 15 fJ is calculated. Circuit performance capability is demonstrated by a static frequency divider operating up to 15 GHz     

96-GHz static frequency divider in SiGe bipolar technology

A static frequency divider designed in a 210-GHz f/sub T/, 0.13-/spl mu/m SiGe bipolar technology is reported. At a -5.5-V power supply, the circuit consumes 44 mA per latch (140 mA total for the chip, with input-output stages). With single-ended sine wave clock input, the divider is operational from 7.5 to 91.6 GHz. Differential clocking under the same conditions extends the frequency range to 96.6 GHz. At -5.0 V and 100 mA total current (28 mA per latch), the divider operates from 2 to 85.2 GHz (single-ended sine wave input).     

High-speed DCFL circuits with very shallow junction GaAs JFETs

High-speed DCFL (direct-coupled FET logic) circuits implemented with advanced GaAs enhancement-mode J-FETs are discussed. A divide-by-four static frequency divider operates at up to 6 GHz with a power consumption of 20 mW/flip-flop. A high channel concentration of more than 1×10¹⁸ cm^-3 together with a very shallow junction depth of less than 30 nm for the p⁺-gate results in a transconductance as high as 340 mS/mm at a gate length of 0.8 μm. Open-tube diffusion of Zn using diethylzinc and arsine makes it possible to control a very shallow p⁺-layer less than 10 nm thick. The propagation delay time, as measured with a ring oscillator, was 22 ps/gate with a power consumption of 0.42 mW/gate     

A power efficient 26-GHz 32:1 static frequency divider in 130-nm bulk CMOS

A 32:1 static frequency divider consisting of five stages of 2:1 dividers using current mode logic (CML) was fabricated in a 130-nm bulk complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) logic process. By optimizing transistors size, high operating speed is achieved with limited power consumption. For an input power of 0dBm, the 32:1 divider operates up to 26GHz with a 1.5-V supply voltage. The whole 32:1 chain including buffers consumes 8.97mW and the first stage consumes only 3.88mW at a 26-GHz operation. The power consumption of the first 2:1 stage is less than 15% of other bulk CMOS static frequency dividers operating at the same frequency.     

CMOS high-speed dual-modulus frequency divider for RF frequencysynthesis

The architecture of a high-speed low-power-consumption CMOS dual-modulus frequency divider is presented. Compared to other designs fabricated with comparable CMOS technologies, this architecture has a better potential for high-speed operation. The circuit consumes less power than previously reported CMOS circuits, and it approaches the performance previously achieved only by bipolar or GaAs devices. The proposed circuit uses level-triggered differential logic to create an input-frequency-entrained oscillator performing a dual-modulus frequency division. In addition to high-speed and low-power consumption, the divider has a low-input signal level requirement which facilitates its incorporation into RF applications. Fabricated with a 1.2-μm 5-V CMOS technology, the divider operates up to 1.5 GHz, consuming 13.15 mW, and requiring less than 100 mV rms input amplitude     

Ultra-low-power and high-speed SiGe base bipolar transistors forwireless telecommunication systems

Ultra-low-power and high-speed SiGe base bipolar transistors that can be used in RF sections of multi-GHz telecommunication systems have been developed. The SiGe base and a poly-Si/SiGe base-contact were formed by selective growth in a self-aligned manner. The transistors have a very small base-collector capacitance (below 1 fF for an emitter area of 0.2×0.7 μm) and exhibit a high maximum oscillation frequency (30-70 GHz) at low current (5-100 μA). The power-delay product of an ECL ring oscillator is only 5.1 fJ/gate for a 250-mV voltage swing. The maximum toggle frequency of a one-eighth static divider is 4.7 GHz at a switching current of 68 μA/FF     

Frequency divider using InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT DCFL-NOR gates

Examines a divide-by-four circuit based on DCFL-NOR gates using a newly developed enhancement-mode n-InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT technology. A divider, with gates 1.2 mu m long, had a maximum clock frequency of 5.8GHz and a power dissipation of 2.5mW/gate. It was found that the switching speed of an InP-based HEMT is 1.5 times faster than that of a GaAs-based HEMT.<>