14.6-22.2 GHz LC-VCO in 65 nm CMOS technology for wideband applications

For ultra-wideband RF systems, a wide frequency tuning range of an LC-VCO is highly desired. Presented is an LC-VCO operating at 20 GHz with differentially tuned MOS varactors. A simple voltage converter is used to generate the differential tuning voltages without compromising the VCO gain or phase noise. When implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology, the VCO achieves 14.6-22.2 GHz tuning range and exhibits a worst-case phase noise of -96 dBc/sqrt(Hz) at 1 MHz offset across the entire frequency range. The VCO core consumes 4 mA of current from a 0.65 V supply and occupies approximately an area of about 0.06 mm².