Highly Manufacturable 40-50 GHz VCOs in a 120nm System-on-Chip SOI Technology

Abstract

This paper presents the design optimization and experimental results of 40-50 GHz VCOs for embedded RF integrated circuits that are widely tunable and therefore highly manufacturable. We achieved up to 15% frequency tuning range from 43.5 to 50.5 GHz and -90.2 dBc/Hz phase noise performance at 1 MHz offset from 50.1 GHz operating frequency. The total power dissipation is 15 mW at 1.8 V. The VCOs are fabricated in a 120nm SOI technology.