A 100–300 GHz Attenuator-Based Ultrawideband Vector Modulator

This article presents an ultrawideband vector modulator using an attenuator-based amplitude modulation covering the frequency range from 100 to 300 GHz. The proposed MMIC achieves up to a 6-bit phase resolution. This work depicts the individual components design, the entire MMIC, architecture as well as calibration used that enhance the chip performance. The design is implemented using a 35-nm InGaAs metamorphic high electron mobility transistor process and achieves an RMS phase error down to 1 <tex-math notation="LaTeX">^∘</tex-math> , and an RMS amplitude error of 0.5 dB after calibration. The chips, including RF and control pads, consume 1 × 1.25 mm <tex-math notation="LaTeX">²</tex-math> .