Striped inductor for quasi millimeter wave voltage-controlled oscillator

Striped inductor has been implemented to quasi-mm-wave voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) to improve Q-factor. Since skin effect is significantly degrades Q-factor of inductor in this frequency region, the phase noise of VCO is degraded. Proposed striped inductor can be improved its Q-factor, hence, the phase noise of VCO is improved. The phase noise of designed and fabricated VCO shows -106 dBc/Hz at 1MHz offset from 21-GHz oscillation frequency. It exhibits 5 dB better phase noise compare than conventional inductor´s VCO. The process technology of designed and fabricated VCO is 65-nm standard CMOS with thick Cu metal.