A Fundamental VCO with Integrated Output Buffer beyond 120 GHz in SiGe Bipolar Technology

A fundamental voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) beyond 120 GHz is presented. The VCO has been extended by a cascade amplifier as an output buffer. The chip is fabricated in a 200 GHz f
_T
SiGe bipolar technology. The VCO shows a tuning range from 117.5 to 121.5 GHz. A phase noise of -93.3 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset frequency was measured. The circuit consumes 310 mA from a -6 V supply. The high oscillation frequency with low phase noise performance, to the best authors' knowledge, are record values for fully integrated fundamental voltage controlled oscillators in SiGe technology.