CMOS RF: no longer an oxymoron

Abstract

Peak CMOS f/sub T/'s are now in excess of 30 GHz and double every three years. That raw device speed is supplemented by recently developed passive elements, such as the lateral flux capacitor and the shielded spiral inductor, in which the lossy substrate is made much less relevant without requiring special processing steps. Device F/sub min/ is typically under 0.5 dB at 1-2 GHz, and a better understanding of broadband MOSFET noise has shown how to minimize amplifier noise figure within a specified power budget. Finally, a new understanding of phase noise has shown that satisfaction of previously unappreciated symmetry criteria can suppress greatly (e.g., by factors of 5-10 or more) the upconversion of 1/f device noise into close-in phase noise.