Low Phase Noise Ku-Band VCO with Reduced Frequency Drift Across Temperature

A low phase noise Ku-band VCO fabricated in 130 nm BiCMOS technology is presented. The prototype 12.2–13.1 GHz VCO achieves a measured phase noise of −120.6 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. The VCO core consumes a power of 17.7 mW and attains a Figure of Merit (FOM) of 190. Temperature-compensation techniques are applied to MOSFET bias, switched capacitor bank bias and LDO voltages to reduce VCO frequency drift down to 7.6 MHz over a temperature range of −40°C to 125°C (578.4 ppm).