Abstract-Performance trends varying with different geometrical parameters for on-chip spiral inductors: (a) with fixed inner-dimension, (b) with outer-dimension, and (c) variation in both inner-and outerdimensions are extensively investigated in this paper. The relationships for the inductance, Q-factor and self-resonance frequency (SRF) with various geometrical parameters, such as track width, track spacing, and turn numbers are examined on an extensive experiment basis. These performance trends can be a good guideline for practical inductor designs in RFICs.

Extensive experimental results and detailed investigations of the performance of on-chip circular double-spiral stacked inductors on silicon substrates are presented. Based on a proposed equivalent circuit model and measured S-parameters using the de-embedding technique, the inductance L, resonant frequency f res , Q-factor, coupling capacitance between the upper and lower spirals, and oxide capacitance of these inductors are extracted and compared with the single-spiral case. Some locally scalable formulas, including single-spiral geometries, are obtained to predict inductor performance. Methods to improve the L and Q-factor are explored for double-spiral stacked inductors with single via connection.

A statistical description of the global performance of on-chip spiral inductors, based on extensive measurement is presented. These inductors were fabricated with different turn numbers or track lengths/track widths, but with the same spacing. From the S parameters measured using a de-embedding technique, the inductance L, Q factor, self-resonance frequency, and figure-of-merit indicator (FMI) of these inductors are determined. Various local scalable formulas are obtained in order to describe the features of these inductors. Based on extensive parametric studies, certain ways to improve these inductor performances can be found.

A compact lumped-element equivalent circuit model of two-layer integrated spiral inductors on silicon substrates is developed in this article. Based on this proposed model, excellent agreements are achieved between the measured and simulated S-parameters for different inductors. Also, both self-and mutual inductances of two-layer inductors are accurately extracted, and their overall performances are understood clearly.

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