A low-power 72.8-GHz static frequency divider in AlInAs/InGaAs HBT technology

We report a 72.8-GHz fully static frequency divider in AlInAs/InGaAs HBT IC technology. The CML divider operates with a 350-mV logic swing at less than 0-dBm input power up to a maximum clock rate of 63 GHz and requires 8.6 dBm of input power at the maximum clock rate of 72.8 GHz. Power dissipation per flip-flop is 55 mW with a 3.1-V power supply. To our knowledge, this is the highest frequency of operation for a static divider in any technology. The power-delay product of 94 fJ/gate is the lowest power-delay product for a circuit operating above 50 GHz in any technology. A low-power divider on the same substrate operates at 36 GHz with 6.9 mW of dissipated power per flip-flop with a 3.1-V supply. The power delay of 24 fJ/gate is, to our knowledge, the lowest power-delay product for a static divider operating above 30 GHz in any technology. We briefly review the requirements for benchmarking a logic family and examine the historical trend of maximum clock rate in high-speed circuit technology.