Comparison of Two Layout Options for 110-GHz CMOS LC Cross-Coupled Oscillators

• Main Authors: Doyoon Kim, Jae-Sung Rieh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science 2018-04-01
• Series: Journal of the Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
• Subjects: Layout; LC Cross-Coupled; Oscillators; Signal Generation; 65-nm CMOS
• Online Access: http://www.jees.kr/upload/pdf/jees-2018-18-2-141.pdf

Two 110-GHz oscillators have been developed in 65-nm CMOS technology. To study the effect of layout on the circuit performance, both oscillators had the same LC cross-coupled topology but different layout schemes of the circuit. The oscillator with the conventional cross-coupled design (OSC1), showed an output power of −3.9 dBm at 111 GHz with a phase noise of −75 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset. On the other hand, OSC2, with a modified cross-coupled line layout, generated an output power of −2.0 dBm at 117 GHz with a phase noise of −77 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset. The result indicates that the optimized layout can improve key oscillator performances such as oscillation frequency and output power.