Electronics Research Laboratory
Dept. of Microelectronics

MSc L.G. Galatro

PhD student
Electronic Circuits and Architectures (ELCA), Department of Microelectronics

PhD thesis (Nov 2019): Advanced calibration and measurement techniques for (sub)millimeter wave devices characterization
Promotor: Marco Spirito, Leo de Vreede

Expertise: RF and mm-wave characterization, calibration techniques and structures and de-embedding algorithm

Microwave measurements for planar circuits and components

PlanarCal aims to aim of the project is to enable traceable measurement of integrated planar circuits and components from radio-frequency (RF) to sub-mm frequencies.

Projects history

STW Take-off phase1: High gamma vector network analysis

HΓ-VNA targets the implementation of a new measurement technique, enabling accurate characterization of electronic devices as well as biological and organic materials, which share the common characteristic of presenting extreme loading condition in the RF/Microwave frequency range.

Dotseven

DOTSEVEN is a very ambitious 3.5 year R&D project targeting the development of silicon germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technologies with cut-off frequencies (fmax) up to 700 GHz.

From RF to MMW and THz silicon SoC technologies

Silicon technology platforms for emerging RF, millimetre-wave and THz consumer applications.

  1. Hardware and Software Solutions for Active Frequency Scalable (Sub)mm-Wave Load–Pull
    De Martino, Carmine; Galatro, Luca; Romano, Raffaele; Parisi, Gaetano; Spirito, Marco;
    IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques,
    Volume 68, Issue 9, pp. 3769-3775, 2020. DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2020.3005178
    Keywords: ... Frequency control;Hardware;Frequency modulation;Frequency synthesizers;Frequency measurement;Power measurement;Device modeling;large-signal characterization;load–pull;mixed-signal;mm-wave.

  2. Towards Commercially Available Quartz Calibration Substrates
    Galatro, Luca; De Martino, Carmine; van ‘t Hof, Jos; Alomari, Mohammed; Sailer, Holger; Burghartz, Joachim; Spirito, Marco;
    In 2020 95th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-5, 2020. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG47271.2020.9241374
    Keywords: ... Semiconductor device modeling;Silicon compounds;Microwave measurement;Stability criteria;Network analyzers;Benchmark testing;Silicon;VNA;calibration;on-wafer;probe-level;RSOL;fused silica.

  3. Vector gain based EVM estimation at mm-wave frequencies
    Van ‘t Hof, J.; De Martino, C.; Malotaux, S.; Squillante, M.; Marchetti, M.; Galatro, L.; Spirito, M.;
    In 2020 95th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-5, 2020. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG47271.2020.9241384
    Keywords: ... Performance evaluation;Millimeter wave transistors;Power measurement;Millimeter wave measurements;Loading;Millimeter wave technology;Gain measurement;5G;EVM;linearity;mm-wave characterization;vector gain.

  4. Noise Behavior and Implementation of Interferometer-Based Broadband VNA
    Mubarak, Faisal Ali; Romano, Rafaelle; Galatro, Luca; Mascolo, Vincenzo; Rietveld, Gert; Spirito, Marco;
    IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques,
    Volume 67, Issue 1, pp. 249-260, 2019. DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2018.2874667
    Keywords: ... Noise measurement;Impedance measurement;Frequency measurement;Impedance;Broadband communication;Radio frequency;Sensitivity;Extreme impedance measurement;impedance mismatch;microwave interferometry;nanoelectronics;nanostructures;noise;vector network analyzer (VNA).

  5. The HΓ-VNA, an Interferometric Approach for the Accurate Measurement of Extreme Impedances
    Romano, Raffaele; Mubarak, Faisal; Spirito, Marco; Galatro, Luca;
    In 2019 93rd ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-6, 2019. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG.2019.8739232
    Keywords: ... Calibration;Impedance;Impedance measurement;Sensitivity;Reflection coefficient;Standards;Mixers;vector network analyzer;extreme impedance;interferometer;IQ mixer;high gamma.

  6. Direct mm-Wave On-Wafer Power Calibration Employing CMOS as a Transfer Device
    De Martino, C.; Malotaux, E. S.; Galatro, L.; Spirito, M.;
    In 2018 91st ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-4, 2018. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG.2018.8423821
    Keywords: ... Microwave measurement;Meters;MOSFET;Power measurement;Power control;Measurement uncertainty;Time measurement;mm-wave;power calibration;power control;on-wafer;S-parameters;large signal characterization;square-law detector.

  7. On the Impact of Radiation Losses in TRL Calibrations
    Spirito, M.; De Martino, C.; Galatro, L.;
    In 2018 91st ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-3, 2018. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG.2018.8423820
    Keywords: ... Substrates;Calibration;Coplanar waveguides;Metals;Boundary conditions;Permittivity;Dielectrics;Surface waves;multimode propagation;dispersion;on-wafer calibration;(sub)mm-wave.

  8. Millimeter-Wave On-Wafer TRL Calibration Employing 3-D EM Simulation-Based Characteristic Impedance Extraction
    Galatro, Luca; Spirito, Marco;
    IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques,
    Volume 65, Issue 4, pp. 1315-1323, 2017. DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2016.2609413
    Keywords: ... Calibration;Impedance;Transmission line measurements;Capacitance;Substrates;Impedance measurement;Coplanar waveguides;Calibration;characteristic impedance;measurement;millimeter wave;silicon;TRL;vector network analyzer.

  9. Performance of THz Components Based on Microstrip PECVD SiNx Technology
    Finkel, Matvey; Thierschmann, Holger; Galatro, Luca; Katan, Allard J.; Thoen, David J.; de Visser, Pieter J.; Spirito, Marco; Klapwijk, Teun M.;
    IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology,
    Volume 7, Issue 6, pp. 765-771, 2017. DOI: 10.1109/TTHZ.2017.2759507
    Keywords: ... Transmission line measurements;Power transmission lines;Dielectrics;Couplers;Submillimeter wave circuits;Coplanar waveguides;Micromechanical devices;Coupling circuits;micromechanical devices;submillimeter wave circuits;thin film circuits.

  10. Capacitively Loaded Inverted CPWs for Distributed TRL-Based De-Embedding at (Sub) mm-Waves
    Galatro, Luca; Pawlak, Andreas; Schroter, Michael; Spirito, Marco;
    IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques,
    Volume 65, Issue 12, pp. 4914-4924, 2017. DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2017.2727498
    Keywords: ... Calibration;Coplanar waveguides;Substrates;Dielectrics;Impedance;Power transmission lines;Transmission line measurements;CPW;distributed de-embedding;millimeter waves;silicon;slow wave;thru-reflect line (TRL);VNA.

  11. IC calibration kits and de-embedding techniques for sub-mm-wave device characterization
    Spirito, M.; Galatro, L.;
    In 2017 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS),
    pp. 1-4, 2017. DOI: 10.1109/CSICS.2017.8240449
    Keywords: ... Calibration;Transmission line measurements;Metals;Frequency measurement;Impedance;Power transmission lines;Scattering parameters;TRL;CL-ICPW;vector network analizers;distributed de-embedding.

  12. Branchline and directional THz coupler based on PECVD SiNx-technology
    Finkel, M.; Thierschmann, H. R.; Galatro, L.; Katan, A. J.; Thoen, D. J.; de Visser, P. J.; Spirito, M.; Klapwijk, T. M.;
    In 2016 41st International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz waves (IRMMW-THz),
    pp. 1-2, 2016. DOI: 10.1109/IRMMW-THz.2016.7758586
    Keywords: ... Microstrip;Fixtures;Coplanar waveguides;Couplers;Standards;Probes;Dielectrics.

  13. On the definition of reference planes in probe-level calibrations
    Galatro, Luca; Mubarak, Faisal; Spirito, Marco;
    In 2016 87th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-4, 2016. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG.2016.7501968
    Keywords: ... Calibration;Probes;Standards;Data models;Substrates;Solid modeling;Measurement uncertainty;VNA;calibration;on-wafer;EM simulation;wafer probes;RSOL.

  14. BiCMOS integrated waveguide with artificial dielectric at submillimeter wave frequencies
    Pino, M. Alonso-del; Shivamurthy, H. Thippur; Cavallo, D.; Galatro, L.; Spirito, M.;
    In 2016 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS),
    pp. 1-4, 2016. DOI: 10.1109/MWSYM.2016.7540093
    Keywords: ... Permittivity;Dielectrics;BiCMOS integrated circuits;Pins;Metals;Microstrip;Prototypes;BiCMOS;integrated waveguide;artificial dielectric (AD);submillimeter-wave.

  15. Power level control of mm-wave test benches for accurate small and large-signal DUT measurements
    De Martino, C.; Hu, Z.; Galatro, L.; Sarris, G.; Spirito, M.;
    In 2016 88th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-4, 2016. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG.2016.7839723
    Keywords: ... Power measurement;Frequency measurement;Scattering parameters;Calibration;Power control;Frequency control;Ports (Computers);Power control;Power calibration;S-parameters measurements;mm-wave;sub-mm-wave.

  16. Fused silica based RSOL calibration substrate for improved probelevel calibration accuracy
    Galatro, Luca; Spirito, Marco;
    In 2016 88th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-4, 2016. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG.2016.7839721
    Keywords: ... Calibration;Standards;Silicon compounds;Load modeling;Transmission line measurements;Probes;Frequency measurement;VNA;calibration;on-wafer;probe-level;RSOL;fused silica.

  17. A wideband 60 GHz class-E/F2 power amplifier in 40nm CMOS
    Babaie, Masoud; Staszewski, Robert Bogdan; Galatro, Luca; Spirito, Marco;
    In 2015 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (RFIC),
    pp. 215-218, 2015. DOI: 10.1109/RFIC.2015.7337743
    Keywords: ... Transistors;CMOS integrated circuits;Switching circuits;Oscillators;Frequency modulation;Impedance matching;Switches;Power amplifier;mm-wave;class-E/F2;switched-mode;transformer;PA stability.

  18. Improved RSOL planar calibration via EM modelling and reduced spread resistive layers
    Spirito, M.; Galatro, L.; Lorito, G.; Zoumpoulidis, T.; Mubarak, F.;
    In 2015 86th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference,
    pp. 1-5, 2015. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG.2015.7381473
    Keywords: ... Standards;Calibration;Load modeling;Computational modeling;Integrated circuit modeling;Data models;Probes;VNA;calibration;on-wafer;EM simulation;fused silica.

  19. A simplified calibration procedure for on-wafer power levelled S-parameter measurements at mm-wave
    Galbano, S.; Galatro, L.; Spirito, M.;
    In 2015 85th Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-3, 2015. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG.2015.7162908
    Keywords: ... Calibration;Probes;Scattering parameters;Frequency measurement;Power measurement;Frequency control;Radio frequency.

  20. Calibration and characterization techniques for on-wafer device characterization
    Galatro, L.; Spirito, M.;
    In 2015 IEEE 13th International New Circuits and Systems Conference (NEWCAS),
    pp. 1-4, 2015. DOI: 10.1109/NEWCAS.2015.7181978
    Keywords: ... Calibration;Coplanar waveguides;Substrates;Silicon compounds;Frequency measurement;Three-dimensional displays;Power measurement;Surface waves;multimode propagation;dispersion;on-wafer calibration;(sub)mm-wave.

  21. Power control for S-parameters and large signal characterization at (sub)-mmWave frequencies
    Galatro, L.; Galbano, S.; Santaniello, A.; Spirito, M.;
    In 2015 85th Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG),
    pp. 1-4, 2015. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG.2015.7162903
    Keywords: ... Frequency measurement;Power measurement;Thermal stability;Calibration;Power control;Frequency control;Standards;mm-wave characterization;vector network analyzer (VNA);S-parameters;large signal characterization.

  22. Analysis of residual errors due to calibration transfer in on-wafer measurements at mm-wave frequencies
    Galatro, L.; Spirito, M.;
    In 2015 IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting - BCTM,
    pp. 141-144, 2015. DOI: 10.1109/BCTM.2015.7340569
    Keywords: ... Calibration;Probes;Substrates;Silicon compounds;Silicon germanium;Measurement uncertainty;Transmission line matrix methods;vector network analyzer (VNA);calibration;probe coupling;millimeter wave;thru-reflect-line (TRL).

  23. An FM demodulator operating across 2–10GHz IF
    Visweswaran, Akshay; Long, John R.; Galatro, Luca; Spirito, Marco; Staszewski, Robert B.;
    In 2013 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (RFIC),
    pp. 213-216, 2013. DOI: 10.1109/RFIC.2013.6569564
    Keywords: ... Demodulation;Wideband;Frequency shift keying;Mixers;CMOS integrated circuits;Receivers;FM demodulator;injection locking;auto-correlation;FM deviation;low-power;wideband.

  24. Large signal characterization of millimeter wave devices using mixed signal active load-pull
    Galatro, L.; Akhnoukh, A.; Magnée, P.; Marchetti, M.; Spirito, M.;
    In 82nd ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference,
    pp. 1-5, 2013. DOI: 10.1109/ARFTG-2.2013.6737343
    Keywords: ... Semiconductor device measurement;Frequency measurement;Power measurement;Performance evaluation;Gain measurement;Standards;Load modeling;active load-pull;mixed-signal;mm-wave characterization;large-signal;open-loop.

  25. 60 GHz mixed signal active load-pull system for millimeter wave devices characterization
    L. Galatro; M. Marchetti; M. Spirito;
    In 80th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference,
    pp. 1-6, Nov 2012.

BibTeX support

Last updated: 13 Jul 2020

Luca Galatro

Alumnus