Design of H-Band Oscillator IC in 250-nm InP HBT Process
Abstract
In this paper, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) operates at H-band (220-330 GHz) using 250-nm InP HBT technologies is presented. The VCO is designed with a Colpitts topology to oscillate at a fundamental frequency of 250 GHz. A common-base output buffer amplifier is implemented to minimize the load-pulling effect by isolating the oscillator core from the output load. The VCO is designed by using Agilent Advanced Design System (ADS) tools. Small and large signal analysis were implemented by ADS. The measured frequency tuning range of the VCO is 12.6 GHz (226.2-238.8 GHz). The maximum output power was measured at 230 GHz and recorded as 2.7 dBm. The dc power consumption is 32.2 mW, resulting in a dc-to-RF conversion efficiency of 5.2 %. The phase noise is -71.2 dBc/Hz at 10-MHz offset frequency.