Ultra-Low-Voltage Inverter-Based Operational Transconductance Amplifiers with Voltage Gain Enhancement by Improved Composite Transistors

This paper proposes topological enhancements to increase voltage gain of ultra-low-voltage (ULV) inverter-based OTAs. The two proposed improvements rely on adoption of composite transistors and forward-body-biasing. The impact of the proposed techniques on performance figures is demonstrated through...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Luis Henrique Rodovalho, Orazio Aiello, Cesar Ramos Rodrigues
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
Series:Electronics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/9/9/1410
Description
Summary:This paper proposes topological enhancements to increase voltage gain of ultra-low-voltage (ULV) inverter-based OTAs. The two proposed improvements rely on adoption of composite transistors and forward-body-biasing. The impact of the proposed techniques on performance figures is demonstrated through simulations of two OTAs. The first OTA achieves a 39 dB voltage gain, with a power consumption of 600 pW and an active area of 447 μm<sup>2</sup>. The latter allies the forward-body-bias approach with the benefit of the independently biased composite transistors. By combining both solutions, voltage gain is raised to 51 dB, consuming less power (500 pW) at the cost of an increased area of 727 μm<sup>2</sup>. The validation has been performed through post-layout simulations with the Cadence Analog Design Environment and the TSMC 180 nm design kit, with the supply voltage ranging from 0.3 V to 0.6 V.
ISSN:2079-9292