Title :
Design and Scaling of W-Band SiGe BiCMOS VCOs
Author :
Nicolson, Sean T. ; Yau, Kenneth H K ; Chevalier, Pascal ; Chantre, Alain ; Sautreuil, Bernard ; Tang, Keith W. ; Voinigescu, Sorin P.
Author_Institution :
Toronto Univ., Toronto
Abstract :
This paper discusses the design of 77-106 GHz Colpitts VCOs fabricated in two generations of SiGe BiCMOS technology, with MOS and HBT varactors, and with integrated inductors. Based on a study of the optimal biasing conditions for minimum phase noise, it is shown that VCOs can be used to monitor the mm-wave noise performance of SiGe HBTs. Measurements show a 106 GHz VCO operating from 2.5 V with phase noise of -101.3 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset, which delivers +2.5 dBm of differential output power at 25degC, with operation verified up to 125degC. A BiCMOS VCO with a differential MOS-HBT cascode output buffer using 130 nm MOSFETs delivers +10.5 dBm of output power at 87 GHz.
Keywords :
BiCMOS integrated circuits; Ge-Si alloys; bipolar MIMIC; bipolar MMIC; heterojunction bipolar transistors; integrated circuit design; phase noise; varactors; voltage-controlled oscillators; Colpitts VCO fabrication; HBT varactor; MOS varactor; W-band SiGe BiCMOS technology; frequency 1 MHz; frequency 77 GHz to 106 GHz; heterojunction bipolar transistor; integrated inductor; minimum phase noise; mm-wave noise performance monitoring; size 130 nm; temperature 25 degC; voltage-controlled oscillator; BiCMOS integrated circuits; Condition monitoring; Germanium silicon alloys; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; Inductors; Phase noise; Power generation; Silicon germanium; Varactors; Voltage-controlled oscillators; Millimeter-wave integrated circuits; SiGe BiCMOS technology; W-band voltage-controlled oscillators; phase noise; process monitor; voltage-controlled oscillators;
Journal_Title :
Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSSC.2007.900769
