Advanced calibration and measurement techniques for (sub)millimeter wave devices characterization

Abstract

As the number of wireless applications increases every year, overcrowding the RF/microwave spectrum, research community and industry are gradually starting to dedicate more attention to the less exploited (sub)millimeter wave spectrum, spanning from 30 GHz to 1 THz. While the high frequency and large available bandwidth of the latter promises very fast communication and the space for countless new applications, the development of new devices working at high frequency is hampered by a series of challenges affecting both technology development and implementation. One of the bottlenecks in new technology development is the availability of accurate and reliable measurement techniques, to support the design and the model validation of both passive and active devices working at (sub)millimeter wave frequencies. As a matter of fact, the test and measurement market dedicated to sub-THz applications has presented small developments in the last decades, with the core instrumentation and measurement techniques still based on the same principles dedicated to lower frequency applications. This thesis is dedicated to the development of calibration and measurement techniques for the characterization of (sub)millimeter wave devices, allowing to bridge the gap between the current available measurement instrumentation and the new needs in the sub-THz range. This is done by mainly addressing two aspects: the development of advanced techniques and artifacts for the characterization of electronic devices in their native environment (i.e., on-wafer), and the implementation of measurement techniques allowing to characterize the small- and large-signal behavior of devices and circuits at (sub)millimeter wave, while overcoming the instrument-related challenges present at those frequencies.