32-Gbit/s CMOS receivers in 300-GHz band

This paper presents low-noise amplifier (LNA)-less 300- GHz CMOS receivers that operate above the NMOS unity-power-gain frequency, f_max. The receivers consist of a down-conversion mixer with a doubler- or tripler-last multiplier chain that upconverts an LO^1/n signal into 300 GHz. The conversion gain of the receiver with the doubler-last multiplier is -19.5 dB and its noise figure, 3-dB bandwidth, and power consumption are 27 dB, 27 GHz, and 0.65 W, respectively. The conversion gain of the receiver with the tripler-last multiplier is -18 dB and its noise figure, 3-dB bandwidth, and power consumption are 25.5 dB, 33 GHz, and 0.41 W, respectively. The receivers achieve a wireless data rate of 32 Gb/s with 16QAM. This shows the potential of the moderate- f_max CMOS technology for ultrahigh-speed THz wireless communications.