Very Linear and Low-Noise Ka/Ku-Band Voltage Controlled Oscillators

Tsuneo TOKUMITSU, Osamu BABA, Kiyoshi KAJII

Summary :

A simple and practical methodology to make microwave voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) very linear is presented. Incorporating a very short microstrip line ( λ_g/4) for varactor's bias feed, the C-V curve was shifted by a constant -Δ C and performed a capacitance tailored nearly proportional to V_CONT^-2. This modification featured very linear VCO implementation at no expense of housing and phase noise performance. Ka- and Ku-band VCOs fabricated with this new technique exhibited a constant tuning sensitivity in a wide control voltage range (2-10 V). The phase noise level at 100 kHz offset was as low as -107 dBc/Hz for a 13 GHz-band VCO and better than -85 dBc/Hz for a 38 GHz-band VCO, due to combination of capacitor-coupled high-Q resonator and multiplier. This technology is very effective for quasi-millimeter-wave and millimeter-wave FM/FSK modulation and FMCW radar applications.

• Publication: IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics Vol.E85-C No.12 pp.2008-2014
• Publication Date: 2002/12/01
• Type of Manuscript: Special Section PAPER (Special Issue on Low-Distortion,High-Power,High-Efficiency Active Device and Circuit Technology)

Authors

Tsuneo TOKUMITSU
Osamu BABA
Kiyoshi KAJII

Keyword

voltage controlled oscillator,  linear frequency,  low-noise,  varactor