Design of low phase noise LC VCO using asymmetric inductance tank and HNFF technology in InGaP/GaAs HBT process

Abstract

A harmonic noise frequency filtering (HNFF) LC voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is fabricated using asymmetric inductance tank (AIT) in InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology. In order to optimize phase noise, the AIT and HNFF techniques are presented. The proposed VCO exhibited the phase noise of −117.3 dBc/Hz and −129.96 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz and 1 MHz offset frequencies and a tuning range from 1.46 GHz to 1.721 GHz. The total on-chip LC VCO is implanted in 0.85 × 0.85 mm2 chip area.