Design, modeling and characterization of on-chip transformer for silicon RFIC

• Main Author: Lim, Chee Chong
• Other Authors: Yeo Kiat Seng
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Integrated circuits
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/21198
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

On-chip inductors play a crucial role in radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). For gigahertz circuitry, these components are usually realized using bond-wires or planar metal traces that route in the spiral or symmetrical configuration. In recent years, demand for multiple inductors in each RFIC application has driven the development of on-chip transformers. In fact, the physical isolation property of the transformers has already facilitated the integration of many large functional blocks (impedance matching, low-noise feedback, differential-to-single-ended conversion) into the silicon wafer. Furthermore, they permit a large range of inductances to be realized. However, these transformers possess a drawback of smaller quality-factor (Q) values with various loss mechanisms and are more difficult to model.