A 12-Bit 20-kS/s 640-nW SAR ADC With a VCDL-Based Open-Loop Time-Domain Comparator

Abstract

This brief presents a 12-bit ultra-low-power asynchronous successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC). A voltage-controlled delay line (VCDL) based open-loop time-domain comparator is proposed and analyzed, achieving low noise and ultra-low power performance. By employing the mixed switching scheme, the segmented capacitive digital-to-analog converter (CDAC) arrays as well as the synchronous data-weighted averaging (DWA) calibration block, the proposed SAR ADC can operate from 1.8 V down to 0.8 V at 20&#x2013;200 kS/s. The designed ADC is fabricated in a 0.18- <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu {\mathrm{ m}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CMOS process and the measurement results show the proposed SAR ADC achieves an SNDR of 65-dB with power consumption of 647 nW from a 0.8 V power supply at 20 kS/s.