Chapter 7 CMOS Amplifiers

 7.1 General Considerations

 7.2 Common-Source Stage

 7.3 Common-Gate Stage

 7.4 Source Follower

 7.5 Summary and Additional Examples

1
 Chapter Outline

CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 2

 MOS Biasing

 R2VDD 
VGS  V1  VTH   V  2V1 
1
2
 VTH 
 R1  R2 
1
V1 
W
 nCox RS
L

 Voltage at X is determined by VDD, R1, and R2.

 VGS can be found using the equation above, and ID can be
found by using the NMOS current equation.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 3
 Self-Biased MOS Stage

I D RD  VGS  RS I D  VDD

 The circuit above is analyzed by noting M1 is in saturation

and no potential drop appears across RG.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 4
 Current Sources

 When in saturation region, a MOSFET behaves as a current

source.
 NMOS draws current from a point to ground (sinks current),
whereas PMOS draws current from V DD to a point (sources
current).
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 5
 Common-Source Stage

 0
Av   g m RD
W
Av   2  n Cox I D RD
L
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 6
 Operation in Saturation

RD I D  VDD  VGS  VTH 

 In order to maintain operation in saturation, Vout cannot fall

below Vin by more than one threshold voltage.
 The condition above ensures operation in saturation.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 7
CS Stage with =0

Av   g m RL
Rin  
Rout  RL
8
 CS Stage with   0

Av   g m RL || rO 
Rin  
Rout  RL || rO
 However, Early effect and channel length modulation affect
CE and CS stages in a similar manner.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 9
 CS Gain Variation with Channel Length

W
2 nCox
L 2 nCoxWL
Av  
 ID ID

 Since  is inversely proportional to L, the voltage gain

actually becomes proportional to the square root of L.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 10
 CS Stage with Current-Source Load

Av   g m1 rO1 || rO 2 
Rout  rO1 || rO 2
 To alleviate the headroom problem, an active current-
source load is used.
 This is advantageous because a current-source has a high
output resistance and can tolerate a small voltage drop
across it.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 11
 PMOS CS Stage with NMOS as Load

Av   g m 2 (rO1 || rO 2 )

 Similarly, with PMOS as input stage and NMOS as the load,

the voltage gain is the same as before.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 12
 CS Stage with Diode-Connected Load

Av   g m1 
1

W / L 1
gm2 W / L 2
 1 
Av   g m1  || rO 2 || rO1 
 gm2 
 Lower gain, but less dependent on process parameters.

CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 13

 CS Stage with Diode-Connected PMOS Device

 1 
Av   g m 2  || ro1 || ro 2 
 g m1 

 Note that PMOS circuit symbol is usually drawn with the

source on top of the drain.
14
 CS Stage with Degeneration

RD
Av  
1
 RS
gm
 0
 Similar to bipolar counterpart, when a CS stage is
degenerated, its gain, I/O impedances, and linearity change.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 15
 Example of CS Stage with Degeneration

RD
Av  
1 1

g m1 g m 2
 A diode-connected device degenerates a CS stage.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 16
 CS Stage with Gate Resistance

VR  0
G

 Since at low frequencies, the gate conducts no current,

gate resistance does not affect the gain or I/O impedances.

CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 17

 Output Impedance of CS Stage with Degeneration

rout  g m rO RS  rO

 Similar to the bipolar counterpart, degeneration boosts

output impedance.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 18
 Output Impedance Example (I)

 1  1
Rout  rO1 1  g m1  
 gm2  gm2

 When 1/gm is parallel with rO2, we often just consider 1/gm.

CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 19

 Output Impedance Example (II)

Rout  g m1rO1rO 2  rO1

 In this example, the impedance that degenerates the CS

stage is rO, instead of 1/gm in the previous example.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 20
 CS Core with Biasing

R1 || R2  RD R1 || R2
Av   , Av   gm R D
RG  R1 || R2 1  R RG  R1 || R2
S
gm
 Degeneration is used to stabilize bias point, and a bypass
capacitor can be used to obtain a larger small-signal
voltage gain at the frequency of interest.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 21
 Common-Gate Stage

Av  g m RD

 Common-gate stage is similar to common-base stage: a rise

in input causes a rise in output. So the gain is positive.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 22
 Signal Levels in CG Stage

 In order to maintain M1 in saturation, the signal swing at Vout

cannot fall below Vb-VTH.

CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 23

 I/O Impedances of CG Stage

1
Rin 
gm  0 Rout  RD

 The input and output impedances of CG stage are similar

to those of CB stage.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 24
 CG Stage with Source Resistance

RD
Av 
1
 RS
gm
 When a source resistance is present, the voltage gain is
equal to that of a CS stage with degeneration, only positive.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 25
 Generalized CG Behavior

Rout  1  g m rO RS  rO
 When a gate resistance is present it does not affect the gain
and I/O impedances since there is no potential drop across
it ( at low frequencies).
 The output impedance of a CG stage with source resistance
is identical to that of CS stage with degeneration.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 26
 Example of CG Stage

vout g m1 RD   1  
 Rout   g m1rO1  || RS   rO1  || RD
vin 1  g m1  g m 2 RS   gm2  

 Diode-connected M2 acts as a resistor to provide the bias

current.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 27
 CG Stage with Biasing

vout R3 || 1 / g m 
  g m RD
vin R3 || 1 / g m   RS

 R1 and R2 provide gate bias voltage, and R3 provides a path for

DC bias current of M1 to flow to ground.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 28
 Source Follower Stage

Av  1

CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 29

 Source Follower Core

vout rO || RL

vin 1  r || R
O L
gm
 Similar to the emitter follower, the source follower can be
analyzed as a resistor divider.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 30
 Source Follower Example

rO1 || rO 2
Av 
1
 rO1 || rO 2
g m1
 In this example, M2 acts as a current source.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 31
 Output Resistance of Source Follower

1 1
Rout  || rO || RL  || RL
gm gm
 The output impedance of a source follower is relatively low,
whereas the input impedance is infinite ( at low
frequencies); thus, a good candidate as a buffer.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 32
 Source Follower with Biasing

1 W
I D   nCox VDD  I D RS  VTH 
2

2 L

 RG sets the gate voltage to VDD, whereas RS sets the drain

current.
 The quadratic equation above can be solved for I D.

CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 33

 Supply-Independent Biasing

 If Rs is replaced by a current source, drain current ID

becomes independent of supply voltage.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 34
 Example of a CS Stage (I)

 1 
Av   g m1  || rO1 || rO 2 || rO 3 
 g m3 
1
Rout  || rO1 || rO 2 || rO 3
g m3
 M1 acts as the input device and M2, M3 as the load.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 35
 Example of a CS Stage (II)

rO 2
Av  
1 1
 || rO 3
g m1 g m 3

 M1 acts as the input device, M3 as the source resistance, and

M2 as the load.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 36
 Examples of CS and CG Stages

rO 2
Av _ CG 
Av _ CS   g m 2 (1  g m1rO1 ) RS  rO1  || rO1 1
 RS
gm
 With the input connected to different locations, the two
circuits, although identical in other aspects, behave
differently.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 37
 Example of a Composite Stage (I)

RD
Av 
1 1

g m1 g m 2
 By replacing the left side with a Thevenin equivalent, and
recognizing the right side is actually a CG stage, the
voltage gain can be easily obtained.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 38
 Example of a Composite Stage (II)

1
|| rO 3 || rO 4
vout 2 g m3

vin 1 1
|| rO 2 
gm2 g m1

 This example shows that by probing different places in a

circuit, different types of output can be obtained.
 Vout1 is a result of M1 acting as a source follower whereas V out2
is a result of M1 acting as a CS stage with degeneration.
CH7 CMOS Amplifiers 39
 MOS Cascode Amplifier

Av  Gm Rout
Av   g m1 (1  g m 2 rO 2 )rO1  rO 2 
Av   g m1rO1 g m 2 rO 2

CH 9 Cascode Stages and Current Mirrors 40

 Improved MOS Cascode Amplifier

Ron  g m 2 rO 2 rO1
Rop  g m3 rO 3 rO 4
Rout  Ron || Rop

 Similar to its bipolar counterpart, the output impedance of a

MOS cascode amplifier can be improved by using a PMOS
cascode current source.
CH 9 Cascode Stages and Current Mirrors 41