A High-Q Active Inductor Circuit for Quasi-Millimeter-Wave Frequency Range

This paper describes a novel high-Q active inductor circuit configuration composed of an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) and an input RC network. Due to the phase rotation made by the input RC network, the active inductor circuit provides high-Q inductive impedance at higher frequencies. According to circuit simulation with design-kit of a 90-GHz-fT SiGe HBT technology, an inductance of more than 0.53nH and Q of more than 80 can be obtained at quasi-millimeter-wave frequency, 24GHz. The Q value is tunable by controlling the transconductance of the OTA. These features are also ensured by means of measurements of fabricated active inductor circuit. Since the active inductor circuit needs small chip area, which is 25% of a conventional passive inductor, the proposed active inductor contributes to implement a cost-effective high-Q notch filter for frequencies up to quasi-millimeter-wave frequencies.