An Efficient Wide Tuning Range −0.4 dBm 65 GHz NMOS VCO on 22 nm FD-SOI CMOS

Abstract

This paper presents a voltage-controlled oscillator implemented on a 22-nm FD-SOI CMOS technology. Optimized for wide tuning range and high output power, the oscillator uses a transmission line and an MOS varactor in the resonator, achieving a tuning range of 56.0-73.3 GHz. Output powers up to −0.4 and −2.5 dBm have been measured, while drawing 12.8 mW and 20.0 mW power from supply voltages of 0.8 V and 1 V, respectively. The oscillator core and buffer require 6300μm2 of silicon area, which is almost entirely devoted to the resonator. The presented circuit exhibits a great combination of performance metrics, it has the highest output power, smallest area, second highest tuning range and efficiency among CMOS oscillators in similar frequency ranges reported to date.