FinFET RF receiver building blocks operating above 10 GHz

Abstract

A FinFET VCO and a differential LNA operating at 17 GHz are presented. The LNA contains on-chip input and output baluns, the input balun for the conversion of the single-ended antenna signal, and it achieves a gain of 9.4 dB and a noise figure of 6.6 dB when the output balun is deembedded; the power consumption is 26 mW from a 1V supply. The VCO oscillates between 15.3 – 17.1 GHz and reaches a phase noise of −94 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz frequency offset with a power consumption of 7.5 mW. Device characterization data for circuit assessment and performance extrapolation is additionally presented.