Potential of 0.5 μm SOI CMOS process towards low voltage, low power RF applications in multigigahertz regime

Silicon on insulator (SOI) has emerged as a strong contender for low power RF applications. This paper demonstrates the potential of SOI technology towards the development of next generation RF front ends. The capabilities of a 0.5 μm SOI technology are illustrated by the design and fabrication of a low supply voltage, low power VCO operating at 1.8 GHz. The VCO operates with supply voltage as low as 1 V. The tuning range was measured to be 14% and the measured phase noise was -117.5 dBc/Hz at an offset frequency of 1 MHz from the 1.77 GHz carrier. The VCO and the buffers consume 14.7 mW power from a 1.5 V supply. We also demonstrate the development, fabrication and measurement of anti-parallel dioxide pair (APDP) structures towards subharmonic mixers in this technology.