What is Current Mirror?

The current mirror is an analog circuit that senses the reference current and
generates the copy or number of copies of the reference current, with the same
characteristics. The replicated current is as stable as the reference current source.
The replicated current could be the same as the reference current (Icopy = IREF),
or it could be either multiple or fraction of the reference current. (Icopy = N*Iref
or Icopy = (1/N)*IREF).
MOSFET- Current Mirror
Fig.3 shows a current mirror circuit using the NMOS transistor. The reference
current is converted to the voltage using diode connected transistor and the same
is applied between the gate and the source of the another MOSFET.
 The
relation between the ID1 and IREF can be given by the following expression.
By changing the W/L ratio of the two transistors, the current which is fraction or
multiple of the reference current can be generated. The only thing which needs to
be ensured is that, the MOSFET should operate in the saturation region.
Current Mirrors:
A current mirror is a circuit block which functions to produce a copy of the current
flowing into or out of an input terminal by replicating the current in an output
terminal. An important feature of the current mirror is a relatively high output
resistance which helps to keep the output current constant regardless of load
conditions. Another feature of the current mirror is a relatively low input
resistance which helps to keep the input current constant regardless of drive
conditions. The current being 'copied' can be, and often is, a varying signal
current. The current mirror is often used to provide bias currents and active loads
in amplifier stages.

Given a current source as the input, the input section of the current mirror looks
like a virtual short circuit and reflects (swaps the direction of flow) this current to
produce a current sink (the current exiting the mirror); as a result, we obtain a
current sink (figure 11.1a). Conversely, given a current sink as the input, the
current mirror reflects this current to control current source (figure 11.1b); as a
result, now we obtain a current source. We can generalize this basic current
mirror structure with this first observation: A current mirror consists of a low
impedance input stage connected to a high impedance output current stage.
Conceptually, an ideal current mirror is simply an ideal current amplifier with a
gain of -1. In Chapter 8 we explored the transistor and you should recall that the
BJT device is a current amplifier of sorts (current controlled current source) in that
the collector current is β times the base current. The problem with using this
feature directly is that β is not a well controlled value from device to device and
can vary with changes in temperature. Accurate current amplifiers are difficult to
directly implement using conventional transistor amplifier configurations which
are typically voltage amplifiers. For example the MOS transistor is generally
modeled as a voltage controlled current source and can not be used directly as a
current amplifier. The use of feedback and the current to voltage relationship of
two terminal elements such as a resistor are most often used when manipulating
currents as signals. Because in a current mirror the input and output are currents,
it is easier to convert the input to a voltage first and then convert a voltage back
to a current at the output.
Current mirror circuit
The basic circuit of the transistor current mirror is shown in the diagram below. It
comprises two transistors, one of which has the base and collector connected and
the other does not. The base connections of both transistors are then linked, as
are the emitters which are also taken to ground.
In terms of the operation of the circuit, the base emitter junction of TR1 acts like a
diode because the collector and base are connected together.

The current into TRI is set externally by other components, and as a result there is
a given voltage built up across the base emitter junction of TR1. As the base
emitter voltage on both transistors is the same, the current in one transistor will
exactly mirror that of the second, assuming that both transistors are accurately
matched. Therefore the current flowing into TR1 will be mirrored into TR2 and
hence into the load R1.

In analog IC design, current mirror structure is one of the most used concepts. It is
commonly
used to replicate current from one branch of the circuit to another, but it can also
be used as a
biasing network or as a “pseudo” current source. In fig. 1, M1 and M2 are
MOSFETs with same
area process, and VGS, IREF is the current we are trying to mirror and Iout is the
mirrored current.
The current mirror circuits are simple current sources which gives constant
current. The current mirror circuits are based on the principle that, if the gate to
source voltage of two identical MOSFETs are equal then the drain current flowing
through them is equal. The basic current mirror circuit is shown in Figure below.

= i.e. Iout = IREF

The key property of this circuit is that it allows precise copying of the current with
no dependence of process and temperature. The ratio of I out and IREF is given by
the ratio of device dimensions of two transistors.
In basic current mirror circuit we have neglected the channel length modulation.
In practice for short channel devices it results in significant error in mirroring the
currents.

By considering the channel length modulation effect for the basic current mirror
circuit the current equations for both the transistors can be given as,