A 40 GHz Varactor-Less Class-C VCO With 17.1% Tuning Range And Long-Term Reliability In 28nm FD-SOI For Satellite Communications
Résumé
This paper presents a 40 GHz varactor-less class-C VCO with long-term reliability. The class-C mode is achieved by a transformer magnetic feedback loop and a control circuit that lowers the bias gate voltage of the VCO’s cross-pair transistors. The design benefits from the body-biasing offered by the FD-SOI technology to fine-tune the frequency with the parasitic capacitance of the transistors. Thus, low-quality factor varactors at mm-wave frequencies are avoided. The capacitor bank is placed inside the transformer to reduce the parasitic inductance due to lead wires and the silicon footprint. The circuit reliability is improved by using a cascode structure in the active device to mitigate the hot-carriers generation.