Analog IC Design : 2023-24

Lecture 6
Differential Amplifiers Part-3
By Prof. Sanjay Vidhyadharan

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Basic MOS Differential Pair

𝐷𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑑 = 𝑔𝑚 𝑅𝑑

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝐶𝑀 = 0

𝐼𝑠𝑠
−𝑉𝑆𝑆 + 𝑉𝐶𝑆 + 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑛 + 𝑉𝑜𝑣 ≤ 𝑉𝐶𝑀 ≤ 𝑉𝐷𝐷 𝑆 − 𝑅𝐷 +𝑉𝑇𝐻𝑛
2

8/31/2024 2

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 MOS Differential Pair

𝐷𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑑 = 𝑔𝑚 𝑅𝑑

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝐶𝑀

𝐼𝑠𝑠
𝑉𝑂𝑉_𝑀3 + 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑛 + 𝑉𝑜𝑣_𝑀1 ≤ 𝑉𝐶𝑀 ≤ 𝑉𝐷𝐷 𝑆 − 𝑅𝐷 +𝑉𝑇𝐻𝑛
2

8/31/2024 3

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 MOS Differential Pair

8/31/2024 4

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Degenerated Differential Pairs

Degenerated differential pair with split tail current source.

Guess the Drawback

Trades gain for linearity

NO DC voltage drop of RSISS/2

8/31/2024 5

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Active Loads

For passive resistance load Diff Amp we need a larger drain resistor to achieve higher gain,
but more drain resistance means a lower DC bias voltage at the output node. Passive
resistance need large silicon area and has large parasitic capacitance

8/31/2024
6

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 MOS Differential Pair with MOS Loads

Differential pair with (a) diode-connected and (b) current-source loads.

8/31/2024 7

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 MOS Differential Pair with MOS Loads

8/31/2024 8

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 MOS Differential Pair with MOS Loads

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝐶𝑀

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝐶𝑀 =

𝐼𝑠𝑠
With RD : −𝑉𝑆𝑆 + 𝑉𝐶𝑆 + 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑛 + 𝑉𝑜𝑣 ≤ 𝑉𝐶𝑀 ≤ 𝑉𝐷𝐷 𝑆 − 𝑅𝐷 +𝑉𝑇𝐻𝑛
2

With Diode Load:

With Diode Load:𝑉𝑆𝑆 + 𝑉𝑜𝑣−𝑀5 + 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑛−𝑀1 + 𝑉𝑜𝑣−𝑀1 ≤ 𝑉𝐶𝑀 ≤ 𝑉𝐷𝐷 − 𝑉𝑆𝐺 + 𝑉𝑇𝐻𝑛-M1
8/31/2024 9

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 MOS Differential Pair with MOS Loads

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝐶𝑀 =

𝑟03
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝐶𝑀 ≈
2𝑟05

𝐼𝑠𝑠
With RD : −𝑉𝑆𝑆 + 𝑉𝐶𝑆 + 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑛 + 𝑉𝑜𝑣 ≤ 𝑉𝐶𝑀 ≤ 𝑉𝐷𝐷 𝑆 − 𝑅𝐷 +𝑉𝑇𝐻𝑛
2

With CC Load:
With CC Load:𝑉𝑆𝑆 + 𝑉𝑜𝑣−𝑀5 + 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑛−𝑀1 + 𝑉𝑜𝑣−𝑀1 ≤ 𝑉𝐶𝑀 ≤ 𝑉𝐷𝐷 − 𝑉𝑜𝑣3 + 𝑉𝑇𝐻𝑛-M1
8/31/2024 10

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Problems with Current-Source MOS Loads

In sub-micron technologies it’s hard to obtain differential gains higher than 10-20.

Trade-off among output voltage swing, voltage gain , and CM input range

8/31/2024 11

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Revisit : Telescopic Cascode Amplifier
Cascode Amplifier Output Resistance

𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑜1 )

𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑡 = −𝑔𝑚2 𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑜1 −𝑔𝑚𝑏2 𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑜1 +
𝑟𝑜2

𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑡 ( 𝑔𝑚2 + 𝑔𝑚𝑏2 𝑟𝑜1 𝑟𝑜2 + 𝑟𝑜1 + 𝑟𝑜2 ) =𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑡

8/31/2024 12

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Problems with Current-Source MOS Loads

Diff Gain ??

8/31/2024 13

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Differential Amplifier with a Current Mirror Load

𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑔 𝑔𝑚1 = 𝑔𝑚2

𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑔 𝑔𝑚3 = 𝑔𝑚4

𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 ? ?

𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 = 𝑔𝑚1 (𝑟04 ||𝑟02 )

8/31/2024 14

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Differential Amplifier with a Current Mirror Load

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝐶𝑀

𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝐶𝑀 =

8/31/2024 15

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Design of Differential Amplifier with a Current Mirror Load

STEP 1 — Find Max and Min DC Bias current from Slew Rate

Slew rate is the rate of change of output voltage of the amplifier due to a step change in
input voltage. It occurs in the extreme case of a branch being open circuited (say MOSFETs
2 and 4).
𝑑𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝑆𝑙𝑒𝑤 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑆𝑅 =
𝑑𝑡
𝑞 = 𝐶𝐿 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝑑𝑞 𝑑𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐼𝑚𝑖𝑛 = = 𝐶𝐿 = 𝑆𝑅 ∗ 𝐶𝐿
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝑉𝐷𝐷

Step In and entire current available in one branch

8/31/2024 16

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Design of Differential Amplifier with a Current Mirror Load

STEP 2 — To find aspect ratios(W/L) of M3 and M4 from Input Common Mode Range

𝑉𝑋 ≥ 𝑉𝐶𝑀_𝑚𝑎𝑥 - 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑛

𝐾′𝑝 𝑊𝑝 𝐼𝑆𝑆
Vx 𝐼𝐷3 = (𝑉𝐷𝐷 − 𝑉𝑋 − 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑝 )2 =
2 𝐿𝑝 2

8/31/2024 17

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Design of Differential Amplifier with a Current Mirror Load

STEP 3 — To find aspect ratios(W/L) of M1 and M2 from Gain and Bandwidth

𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 = 𝑔𝑚1 (𝑟04 | 𝑟02 = 𝑔𝑚1 𝑟0

𝑟0 = 𝑟04 ||𝑟02

Vx

𝑔𝑚1 𝑟0 𝑔𝑚1
𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡 = = 𝐶
𝑟0 𝐶

8/31/2024 18

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Design of Differential Amplifier with a Current Mirror Load

STEP 4 — To find aspect ratios(W/L) of M5

𝑉𝑌 = 𝑉𝐶𝑀_𝑚𝑖𝑛 − 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑛 − 𝑉𝑜𝑣_𝑀1

2𝐼𝐷
𝑔𝑚1 =
𝑉𝑜𝑣_𝑀1
Vx
𝐾′𝑛 𝑊𝑛_𝑀5
𝐼𝐷5 = (𝑉𝑌 )2 = 𝐼𝑆𝑆
VY 2 𝐿𝑛_𝑀5

𝑉𝐵𝑖𝑎𝑠 = 𝑉𝑌 + 𝑉𝑇ℎ𝑛

8/31/2024 19

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Design of Differential Amplifier with a Current Mirror Load

8/31/2024 20

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Gilbert Cell

8/31/2024 21

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Gilbert Cell

8/31/2024 22

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION

 Thank you

8/31/2024 23

ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENTATION