A 30µW CMOS bandgap reference featuring a 1.5-6mA output driving current and a Miller-effect startup circuit

  • Authors:

  • David C. W. Ng;David K. K. Kwong;Ngai Wong

  • Affiliations:

  • Portable AMS Designs, IC Designs Group, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), Hong Kong;Portable AMS Designs, IC Designs Group, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), Hong Kong;Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

  • Venue:
  • Microelectronics Journal
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

We present a pure CMOS bandgap voltage reference with a low quiescent current and high output current driving capability. The circuit sources a driving current of up to 1.5mA with the reference voltage kept above 98.5% of its designated 1.2V, and up to 6mA before the voltage drops to 90%. The circuit achieves a very low supply current of 13@mA, a low power of 30@mW, a line regulation of +/-2.5mV/V and a load regulation of +/-7mV/mA. The reference is implemented in a 1@mm pure CMOS process with V"t"n~|V"t"p|~0.7V at 25^@?C using substrate pnp. A startup circuit, which shuts down itself after a controlled delay using Miller effect, is also introduced. By utilizing the body effect of the input transistors, the turn-on threshold of the startup circuit is raised to about 1V, making it a perfect match for the reference architecture. Silicon measurements are in good agreement with simulations.