Advanced CMOS Technology Portfolio for RF IC Applications

Abstract

A high quality 90-nm CMOS-based technology portfolio suitable for various RF IC applications is presented. The portfolio is built up by a wide selection of active and passive components and a user-friendly process design kit (PDK). Layout-optimized RF components are studied in details including state-of-the-art 90 nm RFMOS devices with 120-160 GHz f/sub T/ and very low noise figures, varactors with tradeoff between quality factor and tuning ratio, precision capacitors with metal-insulator-metal and metal-over-metal schemes, and a variety of inductor structures suitable for different RF designs. The effectiveness for isolating substrate RF noise is also compared among several layout schemes. Finally the guidelines and requirements for constructing a useful PDK are addressed.