A 52 GHz VCO with low phase noise implemented in SiGe BiCMOS technology

A fully integrated 52 GHz millimeter wave LC VCO with -106 dBc/Hz phase noise at 600 kHz offset frequency and 0.93 GHz tuning range is reported in the paper using IBM BiCMOS-6HP technology. The output voltage swing of the VCO is about 0.4 Vp-p for the complementary cross-coupled topology with the buffer. A bipolar device is used as the tail transistor to supply constant a current to preserve the oscillation of the VCO. The parasitics due to interconnect metals are extracted from the layouts, the effects of those parasitics on the VCO's performance are investigated. Based on the analyses, the optimized layout of the complementary VCO is obtained, the pre-layout and the post-layout simulations are compared and presented in this paper.

[1]  D. Sievenpiper,et al.  High-impedance electromagnetic surfaces with a forbidden frequency band , 1999 .

[2]  E. Yablonovitch.  Photonic band-gap structures , 1993 .

[3]  Youngwoo Kwon,et al.  Large Signal Analysis and Experimental Characteristics of Monolithic InP-Based W-Band HEMT Oscillators , 1991, 1991 21st European Microwave Conference.

[4]  P. Schvan,et al.  A balanced 1.5 GHz voltage controlled oscillator with an integrated LC resonator , 1997, 1997 IEEE International Solids-State Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers.

[5]  Tatsuo Itoh,et al.  A uniplanar compact photonic-bandgap (UC-PBG) structure and its applications for microwave circuit , 1999 .

[6]  Michiel Steyaert,et al.  Low-noise voltage-controlled oscillators using enhanced LC-tanks , 1995 .

[7]  Y. Tsividis.  Operation and modeling of the MOS transistor , 1987 .

[8]  HongMo Wang.  A 50 GHz VCO in 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS , 2001, 2001 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. Digest of Technical Papers. ISSCC (Cat. No.01CH37177).

[9]  T. Itoh,et al.  A super-compact super-broadband tapered uniplanar PBG structure for microwave and millimeter-wave applications , 2002, 2002 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (Cat. No.02CH37278).

[10]  Ali Hajimiri,et al.  Concepts and methods in optimization of integrated LC VCOs , 2001, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[11]  Michiel Steyaert,et al.  A 1.8-GHz low-phase-noise CMOS VCO using optimized hollow spiral inductors , 1997, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[12]  U. Guttich,et al.  35-40 GHz monolithic VCOs utilizing high-speed GaInP/GaAs HBTs , 1994, IEEE Microwave and Guided Wave Letters.

[13]  Michiel Steyaert,et al.  A fully integrated spiral-LC CMOS VCO set with prescaler for GSM and DCS-1800 systems , 1997, Proceedings of CICC 97 - Custom Integrated Circuits Conference.

[14]  T. Itoh,et al.  High efficiency power amplifier with novel PBG ground plane for harmonic tuning , 1999, 1999 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (Cat. No.99CH36282).

[15]  Ali Hajimiri,et al.  A general theory of phase noise in electrical oscillators , 1998 .

[16]  G. S. Dow,et al.  Monolithic W-band VCOs using pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs HEMTs , 1992, GaAs IC Symposium Technical Digest 1992.

[17]  Kenji Kurishima,et al.  Ultra-high f/sub max/ and f/sub T/ InP/InGaAs double-heterojunction bipolar transistors with step-graded InGaAsP collector , 1994, Proceedings of 1994 IEEE GaAs IC Symposium.

[18]  Kevin W. Kobayashi,et al.  InP based HBT millimeter-wave technology and circuit performance to 40 GHz , 1993, IEEE 1993 Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Monolithic Circuits Symposium Digest of Papers.

[19]  T. Itoh,et al.  Multilayer and anisotropic planar compact PBG structures for microstrip applications , 2002 .