An interference on SiGe 5 GHZ VCOs integrated with inductors using low-K BCB dielectric

In this paper, we integrated the MEMS inductor placed on BCB with SiGe 5 GHz VCO and investigated the interference on VCO performance by varying the height of BCB and the position of MEMS inductor on a core VCO circuit. The performance of 5 GHz VCOs fabricated by IBM SiGe process with SiGe inductor and MEMS inductor was compared. The phase noise of VCO with MEMS inductor was lower than that of VCO with SiGe by 5 dBc at 100 kHz offset and the output power was higher by 6 dBm. The VCO with inductor placed on BCB with more height and the VCO with inductor that is not positioned above active area showed better characteristics.