A 100 GHz Varactor-less Fundamental VCO With 12% Tuning Range in 22nm FDSOI Technology

This paper presents a mmWave fundamental VCO leveraging varactor-less tuning techniques. A triple coil transformer is magnetically and linearly tuned to change the effective inductance of the VCO tank. The coupling factors between the transformer coils are selected to optimize the Q factor of the tank and the frequency tuning range of the VCO simultaneously. Implemented in 22nm FDSOI technology, the designed VCO covers a tuning range from 94 GHz to 106 GHz (12%) with a maximum output power of -2.5 dBm, while consuming a DC power of 22 mW from a 0.8 V supply. The measured phase noise is -105 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz offset from a carrier frequency of 100 GHz.