5.

Voltage references
Kanazawa University
Microelectronics Research Lab.
Akio Kitagawa
2
5.1 Simple reference circuits
3
R-MOSFET voltage reference
) (
1
)
2
(
1
) (
1
Tn
ref
n
ref
Tn
ref
OV Tn
ref
ref
V VDD
R
I
V VDD
R
V VDD
R
I
~
=
A =
|
when I
ref
is small enough.
Bad stability against the temperature variation, because the temperature
coefficient of I
ref
depends on the temperature coefficient of R
ref
and V
Tn
+A
OV
.
No stability against VDD, because I
ref
depends on VDD.
4
MOSFET Driver

2
1
2
1
1
|
|
|
|
+
+
=
Tn Tp
ref
V V VDD
V
V
ref
depends on VDD.
The temperature coefficient of V
Tn
, V
Tp
can be canceled
by a temperature coefficient of |
1
/|
2
.
5
Threshold-Voltage Multiplier
) 1 (
1
2
1
2 1
1
1
+ =
+
=
R
R
V V
V
R R
R
V
GS ref
ref GS
This circuit has a NFB loop. The decrease of I
ref
causes
the increase of V
GS
.
If I
ref
is small enough,
) 1 (
1
2
+ ~
R
R
V V
Tn ref
VDD
VSS
R
ref
V
ref
R
1
R
2
M1
6
5.2 Beta-Multiplier Reference
(BMR)
7
Principle of BMR circuit
) ( 0
) ( 0
i.e.
2 1 1 2
2 1 1 2
2 1
2 1
3 4
R I V V R I K
V V R I
R I V V
I I I
I I
ref GS GS ref
GS GS ref
ref GS GS
ref DS DS
DS DS
+ = = =
= = =
+ =
=
=
| |
| |

2
1
2
2 1
2 1
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
)
1
1 (
2 1
) (
1
) (
2
) (
2
) (
2
K
R
V V
R
I
I I I
V V K V V I
V V I
GS GS ref
ref DS DS
Tn GS Tn GS DS
Tn GS DS
= =
= =
= =
=
|
| |
| (BMR: Beta-Multiplier Reference)
I
ref
is independent on VDD.
The temperature coefficient of
I
ref
depends on the temperature
coefficients of R and |
1
.
VSS
VDD
V
biasp
V
biasn
M1
M2 = KM1-parallel
connection
M3
M4
R
I
ref
V
GS1
V
GS3
Cross-reference
8
Start-up circuit (1)
BMR has two operating points because of a positive feedback.
The initial state should be determined by the start-up circuit.
"I
ref
= 0" is a solution of the
circuit equation too.
9
Start-up circuit (2)
The drain potential of M1-M3, M2-M4 is equalized by MS3
Tp
MS
ref
MS GS
ref MS DS MS DS
V
I
V
I I I
+ =
= =
2
2 _
2 _ 1 _
2
|
(Normal operation)
NOTE: The gate length L of MS2 is
often very long, if I
ref
is small value.
VSS
VDD
M2=KM1
4*10/2
M3
30/2
M4
30/2
R 6.5k
M1
10/2
MS1
10/2
MS2
10/100
V
biasn
V
biasp
MS3
10/1
Start-up
I
ref
decreasing
VDD
VDD
ON
OFF
<V
Tn
Tn
MS
ref
Tp
MS GS MS GB
V
I
V VSS VDD
VSS V VDD V
< =
=
2
2 _ 3 _
2
| | ) (
|
MS3 should be turned off in the normal
operation.
10
Cascode BMR (High precision)
11
+ -
V
biasp
VDD
VSS
V
out
KM2
M3
M1
V
biasn
R
I
ref
V
GS2
Voltage regulation
biasn out
A
biasn out d biasp
V V V V A V
d
= =

) (
Short L
Long L
VDD
I
ref
V
TL
V
TS
I
ref
depends on the drain voltage,
because the saturation of I
DS
-V
DS
characteristics of the short channel
MOSFET is not distinguished clearly.
Negative feedback control
to maintain V
biasn
= V
out
good symmetry
Short channel MOSFET vs.
Long channel MOSFET
bad symmetry
12
Low-voltage BMR with the
voltage regulation
VSS
VDD
V
in
+
V
in
-
MA4
MA2
MA3
MA1

BMR circuit for the short channel MOSFET

13
Sub-threshold BMR for low-
power circuits
The circuit topology is same as the normal BMR.
OX
D T GS
DS
C
C
m
mkT
V V q
I
L
W
I + =

= 1 },
) (
exp{
0

I
DS
-V
GS
characteristic in the sub-threshold region.
K
q
kT
R
m
V V
R
I
V
W K
L
I
I
q
kT
m V
V
W
L
I
I
q
kT
m V
GS GS ref
Tn
ref
GS
Tn
ref
GS
ln
) (
1
) ln(
) ln(
2 1
0
2
0
1
=
=
+

=
+ =
NOTE: The very large resistance
R is required.
Very low power consumption BMR
VSS
VDD
M
1
KM
2
M
3
M
4
R I
ref
14
5.3 Band-gap reference (BGR)
It is not easy to cancel the temperature dependence of R
2
| in
BMR shown in slide 7, because R and MOSFET are fabricated
in the different stages of the CMOS process. The temperature
coefficient of the reference voltage can be compensated with a
pair of pn junctions.
15
Temperature dependence of pn
junction diode
) ln(
) 1 (
S
D
kT
qV
S
kT
qV
S
I
I
q
kT
V
e I e I I
D D
=
~ =
kT
E
S
G
e AT I

=
3
IsReverse saturation current
k Boltzmann constant (8.62E-5 eV/K)
TAbsolute temperature (K)
qelectron charge (1.60E-19 coulomb)
E
G
Band-gap energy of Si (1.1eV)
AConstant depending on the effective
density of state and impurity concentrations
DC characteristic of pn junction ----
NOTE: Only a diffusion current is modeled in this equation. Therefore,
the appropriate bias voltage have to be applied to the pn junction.
The temperature coefficient is canceled with pn diode.
16
Temperature coefficient of the pn
junction
A
q
k
dT
dV
E A kT
T
I
kT
q
e
AT
I
q
kT
I
I
q
kT
V
D
G
kT
E
S
D
G
ln
) ln ln (
1
) ln(
) ln(
3
3
~
+ =
=
=
E
G
/q
I
1
(High)
I
2
(Low)
V
D
(V)
V
D
has a negative temperature coefficient at room temperature.
AV
D
has a positive temperature coefficient at room temperature.
AV
D
at room temperature
slope = dV
D
/dT
17
Structure of the pn junction diode
Vertical CMOS well bipolar
junction transistor

Equivalent schematic
The current I
B
should be limited less than 0.1mA to reduce
the voltage drop in the base resistance of pnp transistor.
n-well
p-sub
FOX FOX n+ p+ p+
18
Layout sample of the pn junction diode
Check the production tolerance of pn junction.
The standard deviation of the I-V characteristics of pn junction is rather
smaller than V
T
of MOSFET, but it may not be controlled by the foundry.
p+
n+
n-well
Emitter
Base-Collector
19
Positive PTAT (Proportional to
absolute temperature)
K
q
kT
KI
I
I
I
q
kT
V
KI
I
q
kT
V
I
I
q
kT
V
I
K
I
S S
D
S
D
S
D
D D
ln ) ln (ln
) ln(
) ln(
1
2
1
2 1
= = A
=
=
=
M3, M4: Current mirror.
V
GS1
= V
GS2
(because the I
DS1
= I
DS2
)
The source potential of M1 and M2 is
same, then
V
D
has a positive temperature
coefficient
VSS
VDD
M1 M2
M3 M4
R
I
Same
potential
D
1
D
2
= KD
1
(K-parallel
I
V
D
V
D1
V
D2
(Start-up circuit is required.)
D D D
V V V A + =
2 1
20
BGR voltage reference
D D
D BG
D
V
R
R
V
I R V V
K
qR
kT
R
V
I
A + =
+ =
=
A
=
1
2
3
2 3
1 1
ln
The current I is proportional to
absolute temperature (PTAT).
Negative
temperature
coefficient
VSS
VDD
M1 M2
M3
M4
R
1
I
Same
potential
D
1
KD
2
I
V
D
V
D1
V
D2
M5
V
BG
D
3
R
2
V
R2
I
V
D3
Positive
temperature
coefficient
21
Cancelation of temperature
coefficient
If I/AT
3
~ 1 (if V
D
is not large), this term can be neglected.
(Error ~ 0.01%at room temperature)
K
R
R
q
k
T
k
E
A T
T
I
T
q
k
V
R
R
V V
G
D D BG
ln ) ln ln (
1
2
3
1
2
3
+ + =
A + =
q
E
T A K
R
R
q
k
G
+ ~ ) ln ln (
1
2
) (
) (
coulomb q
J E
V
G
BG
=
(R
2
/R
1
= ln(A)/ln(K))
Band-gap Reference
0
22
Cascode BGR (High precision)
M4, M3: Current mirror
V
GS1
= V
GS2
because I
DS1
= I
DS2.
The source potential of M1 and
M2 is same, then
Cascode current mirror can
reduce the current error by
the residual temperature
dependence of V
D3
+ V
R2
.
S
t
a
r
t
-
u
p
D D D
V V V A + =
2 1
23
BGR current reference
) ln (
1
) ln ln (
1
ln
2
3
2 2
1
1
1 1
0
G
G
D
D
E A kT
qR
E A kT
T
I
kT
qR R
V
I
PTAT K
qR
kT
R
V
I
+ ~
+ = =
=
A
=
2 2 1
1 0
) ln
1
ln
1
(
qR
E
T A
R
K
R q
k
I I
G
+ ~ +
VSS
VDD
M1 M2
M3
M4
R
1
I
0
Same
potential
D
1
KD
2
V
D
V
D1
V
D2
M5
I = I
0
+ I
1
I
1
I
1
I
0
R
2
R
3
(= R
2
)
R
2
/R
1
= ln(A)/ln(K)
0
Temperature-independent current reference circuit with BGR