ALMA Band-1 Receiver
Chau-Ching CHIONG 章朝盛
Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (ASIAA)
Contributions from …
• ASIAA
– Microwave Group: Dr. Y.-J. Hwang, Dr. Y.-F. Kuo, Dr. C.-C. Lin,
C.-C. Chuang, C.-T. Ho.
– Receiver Group: Dr. M.-T. Chen, T.-S. Wei.
• National Taiwan University EE
– Prof. H. Wang: Dr. Z.-M. Tsai, Dr. B.-J. Huang, W.-J. Tzeng, Y.-C.
Wu, B.-H. Tsai, C.-C. Hung.
• National Central University EE
– Prof. H.-Y. Chang: S.-H. Weng.
– Prof. Y.-S. Lin: Y.-S. Hsieh.
Science of ALMA Band 1 (30-45 GHz)
• High resolution
Sunyaev-Zel’dovich
effect imaging
• Anisotropy of cosmic
microwave background
radiation
• High-redshifted CO
lines
Transistion
Redshift range
CO J=1-0
1.55 – 2.67
CO J=2-1
4.11 – 6.35
• Probing magnetic field
strength via Zeeman
measurement
Transistion
Frequency
(GHz)
Zeeman splitting
(Hz/uG)
CCS JN = 32-21
33.75
0.70
CCS JN = 43-32
45.38
0.63
SO JN = 10-01
30.00
1.74
SiO v=1, J =1-0
43.12
Very small
Band-1 Development Plan
• International cooperation of Taiwan (ASIAA), Canada
(HIA) and Chile (Uni. of Chile).
• ASIAA deliver key components, mostly in MMIC
technologies (LNA, mixer, filter, IF amp.), while HIA
focuses on optics, LNA (hybrid) and system integration.
• Proto-type receiver will be assembling in Chile.
HIA Band-1
cartridge
layout
Main challenges:
• Longest wavelength, thus largest
component size.
• LNA Noise < 7 K.
• More than 60 copies required.
Band 1 System Requirements
•
•
•
•
•
•
Observation frequency: 31.3-45 GHz (36%)
Operation mode: single side band (USB), dual linear polarization feed
Image suppression: > 20 dB
Aperture efficiency: > 78 %
IF bandwidth: 4-12 GHz
IF output power: -31 to -18 dBm. IF power variation: 6dB peakto-peak in any 2GHz BW. 10 dB peak to peak across the
complete IF band.
• Receiver noise temperature:
17 K (80 % bandwidth) and 28 K (full bandwidth) when operating at 15 K.
•
•
•
•
LO tuning range: 27.3-33 GHz (18.9%). No mechanical tuning
RMS LO phase noise in jitter: 53 fs (short-term), 17.7 fs (long-term)
LO output power: 10 mW
Front-end cartridge size: diameter 170mm, length ~ 500mm
ALMA Band 1 Front-end System
15K
•
•
•
•
•
•
Optics design + Feedhorn
OrthoMode Transducor (OMT)
Cryogenic Low Noise Amplifier (LNA)
Bandpass Filter + Mixer
Intermediate Frequency (IF) Amplifier
Local Oscillator (LO) + PLL
Reasons for MMIC Approach
• Easy integration
• High reliability
• Mass production
(> 200 pcs.)
• Low cost (?)
• But still high noise.
Hybrid IC
MMIC
Design Time
Fast
Slow
Noise
Low
High
Assembling &
Mass Production
Hard
Easy
Circuit Density
Large
Small
Integration
Hard
Easy
No
Yes
Experts
Hybrid X-band LNA from JPL,
Weinreb (2007)
MMICs for Front End
Q-band Cascode PHEMT Mixer
The cascode mixer using WIN
0.15 um pHEMT shows
• Good conversion gain flatness
over 4-12GHz IF frequency.
• Low LO power drive.
Z.-M. Tsai et. al, EuMIC, 2009
31-45 GHz 0.15 um MHEMT LNA
2f100mm 2-stage mHEMT LNA
|S| (dB)
40
30
DB(|S(2,1)|)
2f100_LNA_29K
20
DB(|S(2,1)|)
2f100_LNA_RT
10
DB(|S(1,1)|)
2f100_LNA_29K
0
DB(|S(1,1)|)
2f100_LNA_RT
-10
DB(|S(2,2)|)
2f100_LNA_29K
-20
DB(|S(2,2)|)
2f100_LNA_RT
-30
28
30
32
34
36
38
40
42
Frequency (GHz)
44
46
48
50
Both with 2 mm x 1 mm
Vd=2V, Id_dev=37mA, Id_mea=30, 33mA
2f50mm 3-stage mHEMT LNA
|S| (dB)
40
30
DB(|S(2,1)|)
2f50_LNA_28K
20
DB(|S(2,1)|)
2f50_LNA_RT
10
DB(|S(1,1)|)
2f50_LNA_28K
0
DB(|S(1,1)|)
2f50_LNA_RT
-10
DB(|S(2,2)|)
2f50_LNA_28K
-20
DB(|S(2,2)|)
2f50_LNA_RT
-30
28
30
32
34
December 01-03, 2010
36
38
40
42
Frequency (GHz)
44
46
Vd1=Vd2=Vd3=1V, Id1=Id2=Id3=10mA
48
50
Cryogenic Measurements
Packaging
Test Dewar
Weng et al., EuMIC, 2011
Balanced LNA as Second Stage
30
20
DB(|S(1,1)|)
Balance_Amp_RT
10
DB(|S(1,1)|)
Single_End_RT
DB(|S(2,1)|)
Balance_Amp_RT
0
-10
DB(|S(2,1)|)
Single_End_RT
-20
DB(|S(2,2)|)
Balance_Amp_RT
-30
DB(|S(2,2)|)
Single_End_RT
30
35
40
Frequency (GHz)
45
50
30
20
DB(|S(1,1)|)
Balance Amp_28K
10
DB(|S(1,1)|)
Balance_Amp_RT
0
DB(|S(2,1)|)
Balance Amp_28K
-10
DB(|S(2,1)|)
Balance_Amp_RT
-20
DB(|S(2,2)|)
Balance Amp_28K
-30
DB(|S(2,2)|)
Balance_Amp_RT
30
35
December 01-03, 2010
40
Frequency (GHz)
45
50
• The same design of the 3stage version.
• Better input/output
matching.
IF Amplifier
50
400
45
350
Noise Temp. (K)
40
300
35
30
250
25
200
20
150
15
100
20 K
300 K
10
5
50
0
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Freq. (GHz)
S-parameters (dB)
30
20
10
0
S11 (300K)
S21 (300K)
S22 (300K)
S11 (20K)
S22 (20K)
S21 (20K)
-10
-20
-30
0
Chiong et al., EuMIC, 2009
2
4
6
8
10
Freq. (GHz)
12
14
16
Integrated LNA-Mixer-Filter-IFA
Chip
LO Input
Bandpass filter
(Lin et al. ‘09)
LNA
IF amplifier
cascode HEMT mixer
2nd-stage LNA
Total DC power < 150mW
• Highly integrated design of the module.
• Saving space inside the cryogenic section of the frontend cartridge.
• Reducing the possibility of failure in assembling.
LO System: YTO or VCO
YIG-Tuned Oscillator (YTO) in Current
ALMA System
1 2 b its
C o a rs e tu n e
fR E F = 3 0 M H z
Phase
D e te c to r
Loop
F ilte r
f D IV
30M H z
C o u p le r
fLO
fYTO
X 2
Y IG O S C
M ix e r
f IF
fY TO
V fin e
fS Y N
U n w a n te d
S ig n a l
f Y T O ,in
10dB
A c tiv e
M u ltip lie r
fLO
30M H z
30M H z
T u n in g ra n g e o f
Y IG -O S C
f R E F = f IF
f
30M Hz
Is o la to r
A m p lifie r
28dB
O N P L L B o a rd
HF
0 .0 0 3 0 .0 3
fS Y N
• Coarse/fine tune
• 30 MHz ref.
• Excellent phase
noise
K u B and
12 13
K B and
17 18
F re q u e n cy P la n
K a B and
2 6 2 6 .5
34
40 G H z
YTO + Doubler: Phase Noise
• Jitter (1 kHz to 1MHz) ~ 45 fs
• ALMA spec: 53 fs
VCO Approach
• VCO has almost all advantages over YTO except phase
noise.
• PLL board for YTO has to be modified for VCO operation,
because single-tuned VCO has large gain and large gain
variation.
• Frequency divider is added so that VCO-based PLL can
be used in ALMA environment (using 30 MHz reference).
Differential VCO layout
Tuning
Voltage
Le2
Le1
Q1
Vee
Db
Vtu R1
Out +
Lc
De
Iee
C
PN ~ -100 dBc/Hz @
RF out
1MHz offset
R
Lbb
R2
Vbb
-0.6 V
Lbb
-2.5 V
Db
De
Le2
Lc
Le1
Q2
R
Out -
C
WIN 0.15 um HBT
Total dc power consumption: 85 mW
RF out
Chiong et al., EuMIC, 2008
20
34.5
4200
34.0
3900
33.5
3600
33.0
3300
32.5
3000
32.0
2700
31.5
2400
31.0
2100
30.5
1800
30.0
1500
29.5
1200
Tuning Range
29.0
900
Gain
28.5
600
28.0
300
27.5
0
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
Controlled Voltage (V)
4
5
6
7
Kvco (MHz/V)
• The VCO gain variation is
large. For osc. Freq. >
33GHz, Kvco ~ 200MHz/V,
with Filter 1, PLL BW~
200 kHz.
• By switching to Filter 2,
the PLL BW can be
increased from 200kHz to
1MHz.
• The phase noise can be
improved more than 22dB
at the offset frequency of
250kHz under such
adaptive loop bandwidth.
Operating Frequency (GHz)
Adaptive Loop Bandwidth Technique
Phase Locked Spectra of VCO
Phase Noise Comparison between Phase-locked
YTO and VCO
-50
free-running VCO
free-running YTOx2
free-running YTO
-60
Phase Noise (dBc/Hz)
-70
-80
-90
-100
-110
-120
-130
fREF:30MHz Reference
-140
fLO-YTO:34GHz
-150
fLO-VCO:33.4GHz
-160
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
10
Frequency Offset (Hz)
 RMS Jitter/Degree of YTO (@1kHz to 1MHz) is 44.6fs/0.59o
 RMS Jitter/Degree of VCO (@1kHz to 1MHz) is 63.8fs/0.77o
6
10
7
10
YIG vs. VCO
• Using adaptive loop bandwidth technique, the
whole tuning range of VCO can be locked by single
PLL board.
• Phase noise within the loop bandwidth (~ 100 kHz)
is compatible.
• Worse VCO phase noise at larger offset frequency
contribute a lot of noise.
• Need more advanced InP HBT to meet ALMA spec.
Possible Timeline for Band-1
• 2012: Proposal to ALMA
• 2013: Preliminary Design Review. First prototype
front-end
• 2014: Critical Design Review. Production starts
• 2018: Project finishes
Thank you.