Vertically integrated voltage-controlled oscillator in LTCC at K-Band

A fully integrated K-band voltage controlled oscillator module is presented. The design is realized in low temperature co-fired ceramics, making extensively use of the multilayer features and advanced capabilities of this substrate system. The interior packaging technology exclusively utilizes flip-chip mounting of bare semiconductors. As a key element, a varactor-tuned substrate-integrated-waveguide resonator and the associated design constraints are presented. The hybrid oscillator is integrated in a hermetic surface mount package of 8mmx 12.5mm, achieving an output power of more than 6 dBm in a tuning range between 19.58GHz – 20.2GHz. The measured phase noise is −118 dBc/Hz at 1MHz offset, a figure-of-merit of −184.7 dB for this design.