Modeling and Performance Optimization of mm-wave Frequency Synthesizers

该奖项由2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助。本研究的目的是研究一种用于超宽带应用的新型毫米波锁相环(PLL)。目前的毫米波锁相环是基于注入锁定分频器的，该分频器有许多锁定限制，影响其工作范围。这些限制导致数据速率通信受限，成像和光谱分析应用的分辨率较低。本文提出了毫米波锁相环设计的根本改变，将振荡器和注入锁定分频器的功能结合在一起，采用N-PUSH操作。这一建议的智力优势体现在它的目标是为毫米波应用开发新的电路技术，该技术有效地利用可用的宽带，并使其自身在毫米波/太赫兹边界上以更高的频率运行。该方法有望使锁相环的工作范围提高一个数量级，简化基波振荡器的设计和分频器的选择过程，为科学界提供性能优于传统结构的新型锁相环拓扑结构的设计和优化技术。所提出的方法可用于稳定的、基于宽带电子的太赫兹源，这些源具有多种应用，包括射电天文、大气传感、生物研究、无线通信、雷达以及化学和爆炸物探测。本科生将参与实验工作。计划的外展活动包括为“设计你的未来日”开发实践活动，这是一个为女高中生组织的年度研讨会。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The objective of this research is to investigate a new class of mm-wave phase-locked loops (PLLs) for ultra-wide bandwidth applications. Current mm-wave PLLs are based on injection-locked frequency dividers, which have many locking limitations that affect their operating range. These limitations translate to limited data rate communications, and low resolution in imaging and spectroscopy applications. This work proposes a fundamental change in the design of mm-wave phase locked loops, combining the functions of the oscillator and injection-locked frequency divider through the use of N-push operation. The intellectual merit of this proposal is manifested in its goal of developing new circuit techniques for mm-wave applications that efficiently utilize the wide bandwidth available and lends itself to operation at even higher frequency at the mm-wave/THz boundary. The proposed approach is expected to achieve an order of magnitude improvement in the phased-locked-loop operation range and simplify the design of the fundamental oscillator and the selection process of the frequency divider.A successful effort will provide the scientific community with design and optimization techniques for novel PLL topologies with superior performance compared to traditional architectures. The proposed approach can be employed for stable, wideband electronic-based THz sources having numerous applications including radio astronomy, atmospheric sensing, biological research, wireless communications, radar, and chemical and explosives detection. Undergraduate students will be involved in the experimental work. Planned outreach activities include developing hands-on activities for "Design your Future Day," an annual workshop organized for female high school students.