Advances in Radio Science www.adv-radio-sci.net 1684-9965 1684-9973 6 Kleinheubacher Berichte 2007 2008 10.5194/ars-6-213-2008 http://www.adv-radio-sci.net/6/213/2008/ http://www.adv-radio-sci.net/6/213/2008/ars-6-213-2008.html http://www.adv-radio-sci.net/6/213/2008/ars-6-213-2008.pdf 213 217 2008-05-26 A low-noise current preamplifier in 120 nm CMOS technology H. Uhrmann heimo.uhrmann@tuwien.ac.at W. Gaberl H. Zimmermann Institute of Electrical Measurements and Circuit Design, Vienna University of Technology, Austria 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. Annema, A.-J., Nauta, B., van Langevelde, R., and Tuinhout, H.: Analog Circuits in Ultra-Deep-Submicron CMOS, IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, 40(1), 132–142, 2005. Chang, Z. Y.: Low-Noise Wide-Band Amplifiers in Bipolar and CMOS Technologies, Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN: 0-7923-9096-2, 1991. de Jong, G. W., Bergervoet, J. R. M., Brekelmans, J. H. A., and van Mil, J. F. P.: A DC-to-250 MHz Current Pre-Amplifier with Integrated Photo-Diodes in Standard BiCMOS, for Optical-Storage Systems, IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, 1, 362, 2002. Giardina, M., Stek, A., de Jong, G. W., and Bergervoet, J. R. M.: Design of Low-Noise CMOS OEIC for Blu-ray Disc Optical Storage Systems, European Solid-State Circuits Conference, 9, 271–274, 2006. Laker, K. R. and Sansen, W. M. C.: Design of Analog Integrated Circuits and Systems, McGraw-Hill Companies, ISBN: 0-07-113458-1, 1994. Park, S. M. and Papavassiliou, C.: On the Design of Low-Noise Giga-Hertz Bandwidth Preamplifiers for Optical Receiver Applications, IEEE Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems, 2, 785–788, 1999. Sturm, J., Leifhelm, M., Schatzmayr, H., Groiß, S., and Zimmermann, H.: Optical Receiver IC for CD/DVD/Blue-Laser Application, IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, 40(7), 1406–1412, 2005. Yuan, F.: Low-Voltage CMOS Current-Mode Preamplifier: Analysis and Design, IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems I, 53, 26–39, 2006.