A 22-GHz push-push CMOS oscillator using micromachined inductors

Abstract

This letter presents a low phase noise 0.35-μm CMOS push-push oscillator utilizing micromachined inductors. This oscillator results in an improvement in phase noise compared with the previously published Si-based voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) around 20GHz. With the high-Q inductors introduced by the micromachined structure, the oscillator achieves an oscillating frequency of 22.2GHz while exhibiting an output power of -7.5dBm with a phase noise of -110.1dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset. This work also demonstrates the highest operating frequency among previously published Si-based VCOs using micromachined structures.