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A K a ‐band VCO with low phase noise and wide tuning range using a 90‐nm dual‐gate device
Author(s) -
Chou MinLi,
Chiu HsienChin,
Huang FanHsiu
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
microwave and optical technology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.304
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1098-2760
pISSN - 0895-2477
DOI - 10.1002/mop.29605
Subject(s) - voltage controlled oscillator , phase noise , dbc , materials science , flicker noise , figure of merit , electrical engineering , optoelectronics , cmos , microwave , voltage , noise figure , engineering , telecommunications , amplifier
The design and characterization of a K a ‐band 90‐nm CMOS voltage‐controlled oscillator (VCO) with low phase noise and a wide tuning range is presented in this latter. In this work, the flicker noise (1/ f ) performance of single‐ and dual‐gate devices is measured and compared. By using the proposed dual‐gate device, the VCO design can improve the oscillator phase‐noise performance owing to its high output resistance. The measurement results also show a wide frequency tuning range of 3.1 GHz and a low phase noise of below −95 dBc/Hz at an offset frequency of 1 MHz, under a supply voltage of 1.2 V, and a current consumption of 11.0 mA. The proposed VCO exhibits a figure‐of‐merit of −180 dBc/Hz. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:502–505, 2016