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Current Mirrors

Current mirrors are important biasing elements in analog circuits that replicate a constant input current to multiple outputs. They work by using the property that if two MOSFETs have equal gate-source voltages, they will carry equal drain currents. Simple current mirrors have high output impedance but are affected by channel length modulation. The cascode current mirror suppresses this effect by having a second transistor to virtually ground the drain of the first transistor. Other advanced current mirrors like the Wilson and regulated cascode current mirrors use negative feedback to further increase output impedance and stabilize the output current against voltage variations.

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344 views76 pages

Current Mirrors

Current mirrors are important biasing elements in analog circuits that replicate a constant input current to multiple outputs. They work by using the property that if two MOSFETs have equal gate-source voltages, they will carry equal drain currents. Simple current mirrors have high output impedance but are affected by channel length modulation. The cascode current mirror suppresses this effect by having a second transistor to virtually ground the drain of the first transistor. Other advanced current mirrors like the Wilson and regulated cascode current mirrors use negative feedback to further increase output impedance and stabilize the output current against voltage variations.

Uploaded by

SHRIDHAR N
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Current mirrors

Hierarchy of analog circuits for an


OPAMP
Importance of Current sinks and
sources
 As biasing elements.
 As active load devices for amplifier stages.
 Current steering: On an IC chip with no

amplifier stages, the constant DC reference


current generated in one location and is
replicated to various other locations for
biasing other amplifiers.
Current sources and sinks
 A current sink (source ) is a two terminal component,
whose current at any instant of time is independent
of the voltage across it.

IL

VDD

VDD
Basic MOS Current source /sink

A simple current sink (nmos) A simple current source(pmos)

 Imp: To act as current source/sink, MOSFET must be in


saturation region. current iout is constant irrespective of VDS, for
the given VGS.
MOS implementation of the
current sink
MOS implementation of current
source
Current sources – Vgs components
 The gate source voltage, Vgs, consists of two part:
◦ – One component to create the channel (VTH)
◦ – One component to set the desired current (VON)
 • Vmin is the VDS value to achieve ID which is
VDSsat

 • Note that Vmin can


be reduced by using
large values of W/L
Current sources – Simple MOS sink
. Specifications:
. Vout = 100µA; VTH = 0.7V; W/L = 10; k. =
110µA/V2; λ = 0.04

Vmin = 0.426V too High


Vgs = Vmin + VTH
Vgs = 1.126V

Rout = 250kΩ (too small)


Characterization of MOSFET Sinks and Sources

 A sink/source is characterized by two


quantities:
◦ rout - a measure of the “flatness” of the current
sink/source (its independence of voltage)
◦ VMIN - the min. voltage across the sink or source to
have the current at the desired output value.
Small signal equivalent resistance of
MOS without body

Where , Channel length modulation parameter, rO = VA/ID = 1/λID


Small signal equivalent resistance of
MOS with body
Principle to increase small signal
output resistance
Circuit to increase rout of current
sink(simple cascode current sink)
Standard cascode current sink
Current mirror
 Principle : if the gate
source voltage (VGS) of two
identical transistors are
equal then the channel
currents should be equal.

 Assume Q1 and Q2 are in


saturation region & have
same size (same W/L ratio).

 Since both have same gate


to source voltage, same
drain current flows in both
transistors i.e. Iout is called
mirrored current of Iin.
Applications of Current Mirrors

1. Used as Biasing elements, which results in superior


insensibility of circuit performance to variation in power supply
and temperature.
Applications of Current Mirrors

2. Used as load element (active load) for amplifier stages, which


results in high voltage gain at low power supply voltages because of
the high output resistance of current mirror.
Applications of Current Mirrors
Applications of Current Mirrors
Applications of Current Mirrors

3. Some Digital to Analog Converters employ an array of


current sources to produce an analog output proportional to
the digital input.

Current Mirrors are more economical than passive resistors ,


in terms of die area required to provide bias current of a
certain value.
Ideal Characteristics of Current
Mirrors
1. The output current must
be. equal to the input
current multiplied by a
desired current gain.

2. Output current should be


independent of output
voltage.

3. Gain of current mirror


should be independent of
input signal frequency.
Limitations of Ideal Current
Mirrors

1. Output current varies with output voltage, which will be


characterized by output resistance.

2. A minimum +ve output voltage is required to operate the


mirror in saturation region.

3. There is always a gain error, which is the deviation of the


gain of a current mirror from its ideal value.
Find the gain of Simple Current
Mirror
Two identical MOS devices with equal gate – source voltages and operate in
Saturation carry equal currents (if λ = 0).
If channel length modulation effect is considered, ( λ ≠ 0 ), then
Ratio error versus drain voltage
difference plot
Ratio error versus offset voltage plot
Find the output impedance of Simple Current
Mirror

• rOut = Vx / Ix
where Vx is test voltage and Ix is the current
flows into output terminals as a result of Vx

• Draw the small signal equivalent of simple


current mirror.

• Calculate output impedance.


S1: small signal equalent of Q1
S2: equivalent small signal model of Q1

Thevenin’s equivalent of Q1
S3: small signal model of simple current mirror
S4: simplified small signal model of current mirror

S5: calculation of output resistance of current mirror

So rOut = Vx / Ix = rds2
• Small signal output impedance of simple current mirror, rout is simply rds2.

• Current mirror can acts as a current source, with very high output
impedance as desired.

• Current mirror can also act as active load.


Calculate Vomin of Simple Current Mirror
• VDS1 = VGS1 = VGS2 but
VDS2 ≠ VGS2 because of
circuitry fed to M2.

• For stable output current, both


transistors must be in
saturation region.

• M1 is always in saturation as its


gate and drain are shorted.

• Condition to keep M2 in
saturation is
VDS2 >= VGS2 – Vt
Vo >= VGS2 – Vt

• So Vomin = VGS2 – Vt.


Advantage of active load current mirror over resistive load

 To achieve similar gain with resistive load, much larger power


supply is required.

 Large resistor require larger chip area while fabrication.

 Can be realized with only two transistors.

Disadvantage of active load current mirror

• Output impedance is not large enough.

www.satishkashyap.com 36
Current Source (using PMOS FET)

www.satishkashyap.com 37
Examples on Current Sinks and
Current Sources
Standard Parameters for orbit 2μm technology

For analog design, minimum channel length (L) = 5 μm

NMOS PMOS

Vt 0.83 volts 0.91 volts

K 50 μA/V2 17 μA/V2

λ 0.06 V-1 0.06 V-1


www.satishkashyap.com
Solution :
 High output impedance current mirrors

1. Cascode current mirror


2. Wilson current mirror
3. Regulated Cascode current mirror

Last Two current mirrors uses Negative feedback,


where as in first one, there is no feedback.
Cascode Current Mirror
Why Cascode current mirror ?

 To suppress the effect of Channel length Modulation

 Used to increase output resistance of a current


source or current sink
Disadvantage of Simple Current
Mirror
 VDS1 = VGS1 = VGS2 but
VDS2 ≠ VGS2 because of
circuitry fed to Q2.

 So VDS1 ≠ VDS2. Because


of CLM effect, IREF ≠ Iout
i.e. Iout doesn’t track
accurately IREF.

 How to make VDS1 = VDS2?


 If Vb is chosen such
that VY = Vx , then

 Iout closely tracks


IREF

 To make VY = Vx ,
Vb = VGS3 + VX
 At node N,
VGS0 + VX = VGS3 + VY

 Proper choice of
dimensions of M0 w.r.t.
M3 yields VGS0 = VGS3

 If VGS0 = VGS3 .

 So Vx = Vy .
Calculate output impedance of
Cascode Current Mirror
 Draw small signal
equivalent model

 NOTE : A diode
connected MOSFET
being fed by a constant
current (like M1 and M3)
behaves as a constant
DC potential.
NOTE : A diode connected MOSFET being fed by a
constant current (like M1 and M3) behaves as a
constant DC potential.
Calculate the output impedance of triple
cascode Current Mirror ?
Solution
Other Current Sources / Sinks
Two widely used current mirrors with feedback are :

Wilson Current Mirror


and

Regulated Cascode current Mirror

Both will give stable output currents for wide voltage


swings and enhanced output impedance.
Wilson Current Mirror

 Because of negative
feedback, Drain current
is stabilized.

 Series sampling is used


at output to increase
the output impedance.
Wilson Current Mirror uses current series feedback
Existence of –Ve FeedBack
Stabilization of Io against variations in Vo
Output Resistance of Wilson Current Mirror
Why current source gmb4vsb4 is considered for M4 ?

Why the direction is opposite ?


Calculate Vomin required ?
Widlar Current mirror

• A Widlar current source/mirror is a


modification of the basic two-
transistor current mirror that incorporates an
source degeneration resistor for only the
output transistor, enabling the current source
to generate low currents using only moderate
resistor values.
• This circuit is named for its inventor, Robert
Widlar, and was patented in 1967.
Current gain of widlar current mirror

Output resistance

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