ACTIVE INDUCTORS FOR GAAS AND BIPOLAR TECHNOLOGIES

Integrated high performance gallium arsenide and silicon active inductor configurations for microwave frequencies are examined in this article. The existing topologies are considered and a new aspect of comparing the performance of different topologies based on a more complete analysis is utilised, Drawbacks of GaAs technology in this particular case are recognised, while benefits attained by using bipolar technology are presented. A theoretical basis for designing bipolar inductors is examined. On the basis of these studies a new method for raising the Q-factor of an active inductor is found and applied to two novel GaAs Q-enhanced active inductors. New applications for active high-Q resonators are found and their realisation aspects are considered. Integrated test circuits have been designed, and the simulated and experimental results are presented.