| On-chip inductors are important, performance-limiting components in monolithic radio frequency (RF) circuits, such as voltage-controlled oscillators, low-noise amplifiers and passive-element filters. The quality factor of the inductors is limited by the resistive losses in the spiral coil and by the substrate losses. In this work we propose a method for generating an inductor of high quality, theoretically infinite, by looking at the input of the primary winding of a transformer, with the secondary driven by a current appropriately related to the input signal. This technique generates a compensated passive rather than an active inductor. The electrical, noise and distortion properties of this circuit are presented. A way to employ this circuit, in a buffered voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) with reduced power consumption is also shown. |
