High-Power 150/245-GHz Fundamental Oscillators With 12.1/-2.54-dBm Peak Output Power for Phased Array Transceivers

This article proposes a fundamental frequency oscillator topology that efficiently extracts maximum power from the transistors while minimizing the effective parasitic capacitance, leading to a further increase in output power by enabling the adoption of larger size transistors. High-power fundamental oscillators operating at 150 and 245 GHz are designed using the proposed topology. Implemented in a 40-nm CMOS technology, the proposed 150- and 245-GHz oscillators achieve a peak output power of 12.1 and -2.54 dBm, a peak dc-to-RF efficiency of 14.3 and 1.2, and a phase noise at 1 MHz of -98.2 and -86.3 dBc/Hz, respectively. The corresponding figure-of-merit (FoM/FoMA) values of the proposed 150- and 245-GHz oscillators are -193/-202 and -175/-186 dBc/Hz, respectively. © 1966-2012 IEEE.