300-GHz InP HBT Quadrature VCO With Integrated Mixer

A 300-GHz quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) integrated with a pair of mixers based on an InP heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology has been developed. A super-harmonic coupling technique was applied to generate the quadrature signal in the QVCO. The oscillation frequency tuning range is 24.8 GHz (from 286.1 to 310.9 GHz), and the frequency range maintaining the quadrature operation (within ±10°) is 4.8 GHz (297.2-302.0 GHz). The maximum output power of the QVCO was measured as 0.46 dBm at 286.3 GHz. The measured phase noise is -91.4 dBc/Hz with 10 MHz offset at 294.2 GHz. The integrated QVCO-mixer consumes a dc power of 167.5 mW.