AN INJECTION-LOCKED FREQUENCY QUADRUPLER IN 90 nm CMOS TECHNOLOGY

On-chip high-frequency frequency sources suffer from quality (Q)-factor degradation of varactors. Injection-locked frequency multipliers allow the design of oscillators running at a frequency lower than required to take the advantage of higher Q-factor varactor. This article proposes a fully integrated CMOS LC-tank injection-locked frequency quadrupler fabricated in the TSMC 90 nm RF-CMOS process and describes the circuit design, operation principle, and measurement results of the quadrupler. The injection-locked frequency quadrupler comprises a first-harmonic injection-locked oscillator with dual-injection ports, two frequency doublers and a transformer balun. At the supply voltage of 0.7 V, the dc power consumption is 9.1 mW. At the incident power of 0 dBm, the injection-locked frequency quadrupler can provide an output signal with the frequency from 24 to 29.6 GHz, while the frequency of the injection signal varies from 6 to 7.4 GHz. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:266-269, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27291