14.6–22.2 GHz LC-VCO in 65 nm CMOS technology for wideband applications

For ultra-wideband RF systems, a wide frequency tuning range of an LC-VCO is highly desired. Presented is an LC-VCO operating at 20 GHz with differentially tuned MOS varactors. A simple voltage converter is used to generate the differential tuning voltages without compromising the VCO gain or phase noise. When implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology, the VCO achieves 14.6–22.2 GHz tuning range and exhibits a worst-case phase noise of −96 dBc/sqrt(Hz) at 1 MHz offset across the entire frequency range. The VCO core consumes 4 mA of current from a 0.65 V supply and occupies approximately an area of about 0.06 mm2.