Lecture 15 Current mirrors III Cascode and wide-swing cascode

1. In this lecture:
15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 Introduction Small-signal analysis Example 1 basic current mirror Example 2 cascode current mirror The wide-swing cascode current mirror Find Vout necessary for operation Check all devices stay turned on

In the diagram right, Q3 and Q4 are the source degeneration resistors (low RO, high rO) and Q1 and Q2 are the current mirror MOSFETS. Non-saturated MOSFETs are occasionally used to achieve for a medium small-signal resistance rds and large-signal resistance Rds, but saturated MOSFETs are much more often used, to achieve very large rds but small Rds.

15.1.

Introduction

A cascode current mirror is a current mirror in which the source degeneration resistors RS are replaced with active loads: gate-drain connected MOSFETs, usually in saturation.

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15.2.

Small-signal analysis

15.3.

Example 1 basic current mirror

Consider a basic current mirror (no degeneration), with Q1 and Q2 identical. Find VGS, the output resistance and the lowest available output voltage. VSS=-5 V IREF = 10 A Vt = 1 V nCox = 20 A/V2 L = 10 m W = 40 m VA=20 V

Solution
This is really a biasing problem. Q1 and Q2 are not deep in saturation, so we can assume ID IDSAT. Recall from solid-state electronics last year that

Proceeding in exactly the same way as we did for the sourcedegenerated current mirror earlier, we find the small-signal output resistance of the cascode to be very high indeed:

rout =

rO 2 (1 + g m 2 rO 4 ) g m 2 rO 2 rO 4

vout = rO 4 + rO 2 (1 + g m 2 rO 4 ) iOUT

I DSAT =

n C ox W
2 L

(VGS

Vt )2

Turning this around gives a value for VGS necessary for IREF:

So the output resistance of the circuit is multiplied by Q2s small-signal gain gm2rO2 usually an extremely high value!
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VGS = Vt +

2 I REF = 1+ W nCox L

2(10 ) = 1.5V (20) 40 10

15.4.

Example 2 cascode current mirror

Repeat example 1 for the cascode current mirror, assuming all devices to be identical.

The small-signal output resistance rO is simply the reciprocal of the slope of the saturated part of the VDS-ID curve. This is approximately equal to

Solution
Recall from solid-state electronics: for a MOSFET biased at a drain current ID,

ro =

VDS 20 V A = = 2 M I D I REF 10
So

gm =

I DSAT 2I D = VGS VGS Vt I REF (2 )(10) = = 40 A/V VGS 2 1.5 1

The lowest possible value for Vout: recall the lowest possible value for VDS on Q2 is VGS-Vt. (Any lower, and Q2 isnt saturated any more.) So:

VO min = VEE + VDS min = VEE + VGS Vt = 5 + 1.5 1 = 4.5 V

So the current mirror needs only a bias voltage of 0.5 V to operate this is very good.

g m2 =

Assume Q2 and Q4 identically biased: then rO4=rO2=2 M and

rout = 2 + 2[1 + (40 )(2)] = 164 M

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164 M is a typical value for the cascode output resistances can reach as much as 1 G. Thats much higher than the output resistance of the basic cascode so source degeneration is well worth the slight extra trouble. However, a cascode current mirror needs a greater bias voltage to operate than the basic current mirror. Consider the circuit diagram on page 2: For Q2 to operate in saturation, VD2 > VG2 - Vt. So VOUT (which is equal to VD2) cannot fall below VG2 by more than Vt volts. The gate voltage on Q2 can be found by looking at the right-hand arm: VG2 = VEE + VGS3 + VGS1 = VEE + 2VGS. Putting this together gives a minimum bias voltage VOUT:

and

VOUT min = V EE + V BIAS min = 5 + 2 = 3 V

So the cascode current mirror needs a whopping 2 V to operate much more than the basic current mirror (0.5V). This is a serious design problem when only small supply voltages are available.

V BIAS min = VG 2 Vt V EE = 2VGS Vt

In other words, the VOUT must be kept at least (2VGS - Vt) above VEE. In the present example, that comes to

V BIAS min = 2(1.5) 1 = 2 V

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15.5.

Wide-swing cascode current mirror

Find Vout necessary for operation:

The output voltage is given by

The wide-swing cascode current mirror is a variant on the cascode that can operate on a lower bias voltage. Its small-signal behaviour is identical to the regular cascode, but its biasing is interesting. The extra MOSFET Q5 is simply to ensure the rest stay in saturation.
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VOUT = V EE + V DS 2 + V DS 4
So the voltage drop across Q2 and Q4 is

V BIAS = V DS 2 + V DS 4
This must be greater than the minimum required for saturation:

V BIAS min = VOD 2 + VOD 4

But

where VOD = VGS Vt

I OUT =
giving

n C ox W
2 n L
2

VOD 2 2 =

n C ox W
2 L

VOD 4 2

VOD 4 = nVOD 2
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So

Check all devices stay turned on

V BIAS min = VOD 2 + nVOD 2 = (n + 1)VOD 2

Often n = 1; in that case

Check 1: Q3
That is, must check that VDS3>VOD3. To do this: apply KVL to get

V BIAS min = 2(VGS 2 Vt )

This is a much better result than for the regular cascode. For example, using VGS of the previous example, and the scaling factor n=2, then

VDS 3 = VGS 5 VGS1

For convenience we can easily express this in terms of overdrive voltages

VDS 3 = VOD 5 VOD1

Now, notice that because the current in Q1, Q3 and Q5 is identical, we can express VOD1 and VOD5 in terms of VOD3:

V BIAS min = 2(1.5 1) = 1 V

So a diff-amp that replaces the cascode a wide-swing cascode gains an extra volt for its output voltage swing. This is very significant improvement for hardpressed designers of extra-low power devices!

IBIAS = = =

nCox W L
2 2 2

(n + 1)
n L
2

VOD 5
2

nCox W L nCox W

VOD1
2

VOD 3

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These all give

Check 2: Q1
Check what conditions guarantee that VDS1>VOD1. Apply KVL to get

VOD 5 = (n + 1)VOD 3 VOD1 = nVOD 3

Plugging these into our KVL equation gives

VDS1 = VGS 3 VDS 3

We have just proved that VDS3 = VOD3, so

VDS 3 = (n + 1)VOD 3 nVOD 3 = VOD 3

So the special arrangement and sizing of the MOSFETs ensures that Q3 is always just on the edge of saturation Q3 never switches off.

VDS1 = VGS 3 VGS 3 + Vt = Vt

So ensuring VDS1 > VOD1 means ensuring that

Vt > VGS1 Vt
In other words, we have to ensure that VGS1 < 2Vt So Q1 is not on automatically we must ensure it is switched on by keeping its VGS below 2Vt. This is not difficult to do, and usually follows automatically from the arrangement and sizing of the devices.

END OF LECTURE
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