Design and manufacturability aspect of SOI CMOS RFICs

This paper presents the design and manufacturability of SOI RF integrated circuits, from an SOI technology understanding, to the integration of high-performance passive devices for a wireless system-on-chip (SoC) application. In the technology section, we show the ability of SOI NMOS transistors to function as high-bandwidth amplifiers. A 9-stage distributed amplifier exhibited a gain of 11 dB with a 90 GHz 3 dB cut-off frequency. We also present four features of an aggressively scaled 120 nm partially-depleted SOI CMOS technology that shows its suitability for HF circuit applications. In the integrated-passive section, high-Q inductors and high value capacitors are both presented. In the RF circuit design section, four 5 GHz LC-tank VCOs are detailed Finally, a 2:1 static frequency divider, exhibiting a maximum operating frequency of 33 GHz, is described.