Low-voltage temperature sensor for micro-power harvesters in silicon-on-sapphire CMOS

A low-voltage temperature sensor designed for MEMS power harvesting systems is fabricated. The core of the sensor is a bandgap voltage reference circuit operating with a supply voltage in the range 1-1.5 V. The prototype was fabricated on a conventional 0.5 /spl mu/m silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) process. The sensor design consumes 15 /spl mu/A of current at 1 V. The internal reference voltage is 550 mV. The temperature sensor has a digital square wave output the frequency of which is proportional to temperature. A linear model of the dependency of output frequency with temperature has a conversion factor of 1.6 kHz//spl deg/C. The output is also independent of supply voltage in the range 1-1.5 V. Measured results and targeted applications for the proposed circuit are reported.     

Low-power low-voltage reference using peaking current mirror circuit

A low-power low-voltage bandgap reference using the peaking current mirror circuit with MOSFETs operated in the subthreshold region is presented. A demonstrative chip was fabricated in 0.35 /spl mu/m CMOS technology, achieving the minimum supply voltage 1.4 V, the reference voltage around 580 mV, the temperature coefficient 62 ppm//spl deg/C, the supplied current 2.3 /spl mu/A, and the power supply noise rejection ratio of -84 dB at 1 kHz.     

MOS voltage reference based on polysilicon gate work function difference

A voltage reference in CMOS technology is based upon transistor pairs of the same type except for the opposite doping type of their polysilicon gates. At identical drain currents, the gate voltage difference, close to the silicon bandgap, is 1.2 V/spl plusmn/0.06 V. Circuits for a positive and for a negative voltage reference are presented. Digital voltage tuning improves accuracy. Temperature compensation is provided by proper choice of current ratio or by means of an auxiliary circuit. Voltage drift is about 300 ppm//spl deg/C without compensation, and can be reduced to /spl plusmn/30 ppm//spl deg/C. The circuits work with a supply voltage of 2-10 V and draw a current that is less than 1 /spl mu/A.     

A new curvature-corrected bandgap reference

A bandgap-voltage reference implemented with a new accurate circuit configuration for compensating the thermal nonlinearity of the base-emitter voltage is described. With this device, a temperature coefficient of 0.5 ppm//spl deg/C over the temperature range -25 to +85/spl deg/C has been achieved. The minimum required supply voltage amounts to only 5.5 V.     

CMOS voltage references using lateral bipolar transistors

Two bandgap references are presented which make use of CMOS compatible lateral bipolar transistors. The circuits are designed to be insensitive to the low beta and alpha current gains of these devices. Their accuracy is not degraded by any amplifier offset. The first reference has an intrinsic low output impedance. Experimental results yield an output voltage which is constant within 2 mV, over the commercial temperature range (0 to 70/spl deg/C), when all the circuits of the same batch are trimmed at a single temperature. The load regulation is 3.5 /spl mu/V//spl mu/A, and the power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) at 100 Hz is 60 dB. Measurements on a second reference yield a PSRR of minimum 77 dB at 100 Hz. Temperature behaviour is identical to the first circuit presented. This circuit requires a supply voltage of only 1.7 V.     

A 2-V 23-/spl mu/A 5.3-ppm//spl deg/C curvature-compensated CMOS bandgap voltage reference

A high-order curvature-compensated CMOS bandgap reference, which utilizes a temperature-dependent resistor ratio generated by a high-resistive poly resistor and a diffusion resistor, is presented in this paper. Implemented in a standard 0.6-/spl mu/m CMOS technology with V/sub thn//spl ap/|V/sub thp/|/spl ap/0.9 V at 0/spl deg/C, the proposed voltage reference can operate down to a 2-V supply and consumes a maximum supply current of 23 /spl mu/A. A temperature coefficient of 5.3 ppm//spl deg/C at a 2-V supply and a line regulation of /spl plusmn/1.43 mV/V at 27/spl deg/C are achieved. Experimental results show that the temperature drift is reduced by approximately five times when compared with a conventional bandgap reference in the same technology.     

A quad CMOS single-supply op amp with rail-to-rail output swing

The realization of a commercially viable, general-purpose quad CMOS amplifier is presented, along with discussions of the tradeoffs involved in such a design. The amplifier features an output swing that extends to either supply rail, together with an input common-mode range that includes ground. The device is especially well suited for single-supply operation and is fully specified for operation from 5 to 15 V over a temperature range of -55 to +125/spl deg/C. In the areas of input offset voltage, offset voltage drift, input noise voltage, voltage gain, and load driving capability, this implementation offers performance that equals or exceeds that of popular general-purpose quads or bipolar of Bi-FET construction. On a 5-V supply the typical V/SUB os/ is 1 Mv, V/SUB os/ drift is 1.3 /spl mu/V//spl deg/C, 1-kHz noise is 36 nV//spl radic/Hz, and gain is one million into a 600-/spl Omega/ load. This device achieves its performance through circuit design and layout techniques as opposed to special analog CMOS processing, thus lending itself to use on system chips built with digital CMOS technology.     

High-Gain 15-W Monolithic Power Amplifier with Internal Fault Protection

A combination of circuit and device innovations has resulted in the development of a 15-W integrated-circuit power amplifier that incorporates a preamplifier on the same chip to give an overall closed-loop gain of 60 dB. Two novel devices used are a new high-frequency drift-lateral p-n-p to improve stability and a new 3-A n-p-n power transistor design with individual emitter ballasting to achieve a larger safe-operating area. Other interesting features are an externally adjustable short-circuit current limit, a built-in thermal shutdown circuit that automatically limits the junction temperature to 175/spl deg/C, an electronic shutdown control to mute the amplifier; a supply voltage range of 10-40 V, excellent power-supply rejection (55 dB), and a unique biasing technique that ensures that the output quiescent point remains at one-half the supply voltage with the total bias current changing only 3 mA over the complete supply voltage range (10-40 V).     

A CMOS voltage reference based on weighted /spl Delta/V/sub GS/ for CMOS low-dropout linear regulators

A CMOS voltage reference, which is based on the weighted difference of the gate-source voltages of an NMOST and a PMOST operating in saturation region, is presented. The voltage reference is designed for CMOS low-dropout linear regulators and has been implemented in a standard 0.6-/spl mu/m CMOS technology (V/sub thn//spl ap/|V/sub thp/|/spl ap/0.9 V at 0/spl deg/C). The occupied chip area is 0.055 mm/sup 2/. The minimum supply voltage is 1.4 V, and the maximum supply current is 9.7 /spl mu/A. A typical mean uncalibrated temperature coefficient of 36.9 ppm//spl deg/C is achieved, and the typical mean line regulation is /spl plusmn/0.083%/V. The power-supply rejection ratio without any filtering capacitor at 100 Hz and 10 MHz are -47 and -20 dB, respectively. Moreover, the measured noise density with a 100-nF filtering capacitor at 100 Hz is 152 nV//spl radic/(Hz) and that at 100 kHz is 1.6 nV//spl radic/(Hz).     

CMOS voltage reference based on gate work function differences in poly-Si controlled by conductivity type and impurity concentration

A new CMOS voltage reference circuit consisting of two pairs of transistors is presented. One pair exhibits a threshold voltage difference with a negative temperature coefficient (-0.49 mV//spl deg/C), while the other exhibits a positive temperature coefficient (+0.17 mV//spl deg/C). The circuit was robust to process variations and exhibited excellent temperature independence and stable output voltage. Aside from conductivity type and impurity concentrations of gate electrodes, transistors in the pairs were identical, meaning that the system was robust with respect to process fluctuations. Measurements of the voltage reference circuit without trimming adjustments revealed that it had excellent output voltage reproducibility of within /spl plusmn/2%, low temperature coefficient of less than 80 ppm//spl deg/C, and low current consumption of 0.6 /spl mu/A.     

A very high precision 500-nA CMOS floating-gate analog voltage reference

A floating gate with stored charge technique has been used to implement a precision voltage reference achieving a temperature coefficient (TC) <1 ppm//spl deg/C in CMOS technology. A Fowler-Nordheim tunnel device used as a switch and a poly-poly capacitor form the basis in this reference. Differential dual floating gate architecture helps in achieving extremely low temperature coefficients, and improving power supply rejection. The reference is factory programmed to any value without any trim circuits to within 200 /spl mu/V of its specified value. The floating-gate analog voltage reference (FGAREF) shows a long-term drift of less than 10 ppm//spl radic/1000 h. This circuit is ideal for portable and handheld applications with a total current of only 500 nA. This is done by biasing the buffer amplifier in the subthreshold region of operation. It is fabricated using a 25-V 1.5-/spl mu/m E/sup 2/PROM CMOS technology.     

1000-V, 30-A 4H-SiC BJTs with high current gain

This paper presents the development of 1000 V, 30A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) with high dc current gain in 4H-SiC. BJT devices with an active area of 3/spl times/3 mm/sup 2/ showed a forward on-current of 30 A, which corresponds to a current density of 333 A/cm/sup 2/, at a forward voltage drop of 2 V. A common-emitter current gain of 40, along with a low specific on-resistance of 6.0m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ was observed at room temperature. These results show significant improvement over state-of-the-art. High temperature current-voltage characteristics were also performed on the large-area bipolar junction transistor device. A collector current of 10A is observed at V/sub CE/=2 V and I/sub B/=600 mA at 225/spl deg/C. The on-resistance increases to 22.5 m/spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ at higher temperatures, while the dc current gain decreases to 30 at 275/spl deg/C. A sharp avalanche behavior was observed at a collector voltage of 1000 V. Inductive switching measurements at room temperature with a power supply voltage of 500 V show fast switching with a turn-off time of about 60 ns and a turn-on time of 32 ns, which is a result of the low resistance in the base.     

5 V temperature regulated voltage reference

A 5 V internally temperature regulated voltage reference integrated circuit, which achieves 0.3 ppm//spl deg/C TC over the temperature range -55/spl deg/C to 125/spl deg/C, is described. It is built using a buried zener reference in a dielectrically isolated complementary bipolar process which employs laser trimmed NiCr thin film resistors and a high thermal resistance epoxy die attach.     

A temperature- and process-tolerant 64K EEPROM

A 64K EEPROM is described with emphasis on the circuit techniques used to achieve extended temperature operation. The core architecture is considered and a suitable byte layout which eliminates possible punchthrough in the memory cell is shown. A feedback-controlled substrate bias generator is described which delivers -1.0 V/spl plusmn/0.05 V and reduces significantly field transistor leakages. In addition, a /spl plusmn/1% stable voltage reference is shown to accurately control the programming voltage for the memory array to 20 V/spl plusmn/1 V over the full military temperature range (-55/spl deg/-+125/spl deg/C) and /spl plusmn/10% power-supply variation. A process-insensitive write timing pulse trimmed by E2 fuses is discussed, as is the PAGE-MODE WRITE circuitry in relation to the bitline latches.     

A low-voltage CMOS bandgap reference

The CMOS bandgap voltage reference described here uses the bipolar substrate-transistor and the bipolar-like source-to-drain transfer characteristics of MOS transistors in weak inversion to implement a voltage source that is proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT). A first version of PTAT source is derived from a circuit described previously. A second version is based on a novel cell that can be stacked to obtain the desired voltage. Both versions operate down to 1.3 V with a current drain below 1 /spl mu/A. A stability of 3 mV over 100/spl deg/C has been obtained with a few nonadjusted samples. Experimental results suggest some possible improvements to extend this stability to every circuit.     

Process and temperature compensation in a 7-MHz CMOS clock oscillator

This paper reports on the design and characterization of a process, temperature and supply compensation technique for a 7-MHz clock oscillator in a 0.25-/spl mu/m, two-poly five-metal (2P5M) CMOS process. Measurements made across a temperature range of -40/spl deg/C to 125/spl deg/C and 94 samples collected over four fabrication runs indicate a worst case combined variation of /spl plusmn/2.6% (with process, temperature and supply). No trimming was performed on any of these samples. The oscillation frequencies of 95% of the samples were found to fall within /spl plusmn/0.5% of the mean frequency and the standard deviation was 9.3 kHz. The variation of frequency with power supply was /spl plusmn/0.31% for a supply voltage range of 2.4-2.75 V. The clock generator is based on a three-stage differential ring oscillator. The variation of the frequency of the oscillator with temperature and process has been discussed and an adaptive biasing scheme incorporating a unique combination of a process corner sensing scheme and a temperature compensating network is developed. The biasing circuit changes the control voltage of the differential ring oscillator to maintain a constant frequency. A comparator included at the output stage ensures rail-to-rail swing. The oscillator is intended to serve as a start-up clock for micro-controller applications.     

High sensitive and wide detecting range MOS tunneling temperature sensors for on-chip temperature detection

This paper examined the feasibility of applying a highly sensitive metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) tunneling temperature sensor, which was compatible with current CMOS technology. As the sensor was biased positively at a constant voltage, the gate current increased more than 500 times when the sensor was heated from 20/spl deg/C to 110/spl deg/C. However, when the sensor was biased at a constant-current situation, its gate voltage magnitude changed significantly with substrate temperature, with a sensitivity exceeding -2 V//spl deg/C. The improvement of temperature sensitivity in this paper is one thousand times over the sensitivity of a conventional p-n junction, i.e., namely, about -2 mV//spl deg/C. Regarding a temperature sensor array, this paper proposes a method using gate current gain, rather than absolute gate current, to eliminate the gate current discrepancy among sensors. For constant current operation, a sensitivity exceeding 10 V//spl deg/C can be obtained if the current level is suitable. Finally, this paper demonstrates a real temperature distribution for on-chip detection. With such a high temperature-sensitive sensor, accurate temperature detection can be incorporated into common CMOS circuits.     

Low voltage techniques [for micropower operational amplifiers]

A micropower operational amplifier is described that will operate from a total supply voltage of 1.1 V. The complementary class-B output can swing within 10 mV of the supplies or deliver /spl plusmn/20 mA with 0.4 V saturation. Common mode range includes V/SUP -/, facilitating single-supply operation. Otherwise, DC performance compares favourably with that of the LM108. An adjustable-output voltage reference is also presented that uses a new technique to eliminate the bow usually found in the temperature characteristics of the band-gap reference. Minimum supply is 1 V, and typical drift is 0.002 percent//spl deg/C.     

CMOS integrated silicon pressure sensor

The sensor described includes a four-arm piezoresistance bridge circuit, an amplifier, and a bridge excitation circuit. This circuit is used to stabilize changes in sensitivity due to variations in temperature and supply voltage. The sensor was fabricated using a self-aligned double-poly Si gate p-well CMOS process combined with an electrochemical etch-stop technique using N/SUB 2/H/SUB 4/-H/SUB 2/O anisotropic etchant for the thin-square diaphragm formation. The silicon wafer was electrostatically adhered to a glass plate to minimize thermally induced stress. Less than a /spl plusmn/0.5% sensitivity shift and less than a /spl plusmn/5-mV offset shift were obtained in the 0-70/spl deg/C range, with a 1-V/kg/cm/SUP 2/ pressure sensitivity. By using a novel excitation technique, a sensitivity change of less than /spl plusmn/1.5% under a /spl plusmn/10% supply voltage variation was also achieved.     

A low input capacitance voltage follower in a compatible silicon-gate MOS-bipolar technology

Using a compatible silicon-gate p-MOS-bipolar technology (SIGBIP), a voltage follower is described with protected MOSFET input stage featuring less than 1-pA input current, less than 0.1-pF input capacitance, 10-MHz bandwidth, 20-/spl mu/V p-t-p noise from 1 Hz to 100 kHz. Offset drift is less than 30 /spl mu/V//spl deg/C. The circuit is based on a new very high-gain differential stage which allows full bootstrapping of all its input capacitances. The circuit measures only 0.9 mm/SUP 2/ and is mounted in a 4-pin TO-18 package. The circuit can successfully be used for charge measurements, and especially for wide-band measurements from very high impedance sources (>10 M/spl Omega/) as occurring in bioelectronics, biochemistry, etc.