A Low-Power Compact Ku-Band Class-F VCO With 32% Tuning Range in 22-nm FDSOI

Abstract

This work presents a class-F voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) optimized for small area and low power. The VCO uses a transformer core to create an additional resonant peak at the third harmonic of the fundamental frequency and therefore improves phase noise performance. The transformer provides passive voltage gain which in turn allows for a reduction in supply voltage and power consumption. The VCO, with an area of only 0.022 mm2, was implemented in 22-nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) and achieves a peak area figure of merit $\text {FOM}_{A}=189~\text {dB}$ at 11.4 GHz. With a tuning range of 11.3–15.6 GHz, the peak power consumption is 6.6 mW at a supply voltage of 0.45 V.