Widely tunable low-power high-linearity current-mode integrator built using DG-MOSFETs

Abstract

A novel tunable current-mode integrator for low-voltage low-power applications is presented using mixed-mode TCAD simulations. The design is based on independently driven double-gate (IDDG) MOSFETs, a nano-scale four-terminal device, where one gate can be used to change the characteristics of the other. Using current-mirrors built with IDDG-MOSFETs, we show that the number of active devices in the tunable current-mode integrator, 16 in bulk CMOS design, may be halved, i.e. considerable savings in both total area and power dissipation. The integrator operates with single supply voltage of 1 V and a wide range of tunable bandwidth (~2 decades) and gain (~30 dB). This linear circuit has third-order harmonic distortion as low as ?70 dB in appropriate bias conditions, which can be set via the back-gates. The impact of tuning on the IDDG integrator and conventional design using symmetrically driven (SDDG) MOSFETs is comparatively studied. The proposed design is a good example for performance leverage through IDDG MOSFET architectures in analog circuits integral to future mixed-signal systems.