Abstract
Abstract. In this paper we examine the impact of deep sub-micron CMOS technology on analog circuit design with a special focus on the noise performance and the ability to design low-noise preamplifiers. To point out, why CMOS technology can grow to a key technology in low-noise and high-speed applications, various amplifier stages, applied in literature, are compared. One, that fits as a current preamplifier for low-noise applications, is the current mirror. Starting from the basic current mirror, an enhanced current preamplifier is developed, that offers low-noise and high-speed operation. The suggested chip is realized in 0.12 μm CMOS technology and needs a chip area of 100 μm×280 μm. It consumes about 15 mW at a supply voltage of 1.5 V. The presented current preamplifier has a bandwidth of 750 MHz and a gain of 36 dB. The fields of application for current preamplifiers are, for instance, charge amplifiers, amplifiers for low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) based point-to-point data links or preamplifiers for photodetectors.
Highlights
The heading towards high-speed circuits and low power dissipation combined with a cost-effective design in digital CMOS technology leads to lower structure sizes
We propose a current preamplifier designed in 0.12 μm CMOS technology
In this work we present a low-noise current preamplifier based on a current mirror in 0.12 μm CMOS technology
Summary
Sometimes current-mode circuits can have some advantages compared to voltage-mode circuits in new CMOS technologies. Current-mode circuits provide the opportunity for low supply voltage, have a tunable input impedance and are less susceptible to power and ground fluctuations. As an essential part in analog circuit design is necessary for various devices and sensor interfaces, measurement equipment or signal-processing circuits. Small currents appear in various tasks, which may have many different specifications. Those specifications concern bandwidth, power consumption, supply voltage, linearity, noise, et cetera. Feasible applications for current amplifiers are preamplifiers for measurement systems, charge amplifiers, current-mode filters or optical sensors and amplifiers for low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) based point-to-point data links or high-speed bus systems. The possibilities that allow the transformation of low input-signal currents are presented, the proposed circuit is described in Sect.
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