Title :
A micromachine-based RF low-noise voltage-controlled oscillator
Author :
Young, Darrin J. ; Boser, Bernhard E.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., California Univ., Berkeley, CA, USA
Abstract :
A voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) employs an aluminum micromachined variable capacitor for frequency tuning. Unlike conventional varactor diodes, the capacitor is fabricated on a silicon substrate and thus amenable to monolithic integration with a standard IC process. Experimental capacitors achieve a 16% tuning range with a nominal capacitance value of 2 pF and a quality factor above 60 at 1 GHz. A prototype VCO exhibits -107 dBc/Hz phase-noise at 100 kHz offset frequency from the carrier. The center frequency of 714 MHz and 14 MHz tuning range are limited by the test setup
Keywords :
CMOS analogue integrated circuits; UHF integrated circuits; UHF oscillators; aluminium; capacitors; circuit tuning; integrated circuit noise; micromachining; micromechanical devices; phase noise; voltage-controlled oscillators; 2 pF; 714 MHz; Al; Al micromachined variable capacitor; Si; Si substrate; frequency tuning; low-noise VCO; micromachine-based RF VCO; phase-noise; voltage-controlled oscillator; Aluminum; Capacitance; Capacitors; Diodes; Monolithic integrated circuits; Radio frequency; Silicon; Tuning; Varactors; Voltage-controlled oscillators;
Conference_Titel :
Custom Integrated Circuits Conference, 1997., Proceedings of the IEEE 1997
Conference_Location :
Santa Clara, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3669-0
DOI :
10.1109/CICC.1997.606660
