A 1.8-GHZ LOW-PHASE-NOISE CMOS VCO USING OPTIMIZED HOLLOW SPIRAL INDUCTORS

A completely integrated 1.8-GHz low-phase-noise voltage-controlled osc illates (VCO) has been realized in a standard silicon digital CMOS pro cess, The design relies heavily on the integrated spiral inductors whi ch have been realized with only two metal layers and without etching, The effects of high-frequency magnetic fields and losses in the heavil y doped snbstrate have been simulated and modeled with finite-element analysis, The achieved phase noise is as low as -116 dBc/Hz at an offs et frequency of 600 kHz, at a power consumption of only 6 mW, The VCO is tuned with standard available junction capacitances, resulting in a 258-MHz tuning range.