Low-power LC-VCO using integrated MEMS passives

Low power RF operation is often limited by the poor quality factor of the passives available in silicon-based processes. This paper reports on an LC-tank VCO, incorporating micromachined inductors and capacitors, for low power operation, without sacrificing performance. Only 2.75 mW of power is needed to achieve -122 dB/Hz phase noise at 1 MHz from a 2.84 GHz carrier.