A low-power ka-band Voltage-controlled oscillator implemented in 200-GHz SiGe HBT technology

An integrated low-power low phase-noise Ka-band differential voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is developed in a 0.12-/spl mu/m 200-GHz silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor technology. The use of line inductors instead of transmission lines is demonstrated to be feasible in LC-tuned resonators for Ka-band applications. This VCO can operate from a supply voltage of 1.6-2.5 V. A single-sideband phase noise of -99 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset from the carrier frequency of 33 GHz is achieved, together with a VCO figure-of-merit of -183.7 dBc/Hz. The frequency tuning constant of the VCO in the linear regime is -0.547 GHz/V.