A millimeter wave linear superposition oscillator in 0.18 μm CMOS technology

This paper presents a millimeter wave (mm-wave) oscillator that generates signal at 36.56 GHz. The mm-wave oscillator is realized in a UMC 0.18 μm CMOS process. The linear superposition (LS) technique breaks through the limit of cut-off frequency (f_T), and realizes a much higher oscillation than f_T. Measurement results show that the LS oscillator produces a calibrated −37.17 dBm output power when biased at 1.8 V; the output power of fundamental signal is −10.85 dBm after calibration. The measured phase noise at 1 MHz frequency offset is −112.54 dBc/Hz at the frequency of 9.14 GHz. This circuit can be properly applied to mm-wave communication systems with advantages of low cost and high integration density. (semiconductor integrated circuits)