A 24 GHz Self-Biased Class-F3 Voltage-Controlled Oscillator for High-Speed Wireline Transceivers in 12 nm FinFET Technology

A self-biased Class-F3 topology demonstrating a good phase noise performance is proposed in this paper. It exhibits a phase noise of 96 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset from the carrier at 24.0 GHz over 22.5-25.8 GHz tuning range with a figure-of-merit of 173.0 dBc/Hz. With an exceptionally compact core area of only 0.013 mm2, the proposed Voltage-Controlled Oscillator (VCO) demonstrates excellent suitability for high-speed data link applications implemented in advanced technology nodes, thereby enabling cost-efficient integration. The oscillator is manufactured on GLOBALFOUNDRIES digital 12LPP FinFET technology and draws only 8.28 mA from a 1.4 V supply.