pMOS-only pW-power voltage reference with sub-10 ppm/°C trimmed temperature coefficient and sub-100 ppm/V line sensitivity

Abstract

In this paper, a new ultra-low-power voltage reference based on a two-stage, all-pMOS topology operating in the subthreshold region is proposed to uniquely meet the pW-power range power consumption requirements of emerging Internet-of-Things applications without significantly compromising the temperature coefficient (TC) and the line sensitivity (LS) performance. The proposed circuit consists of the LS regulator, TC corrector, and TC trimming sections. Based on post-layout Monte Carlo simulations in 180-nm CMOS, the proposed circuit operates with 0.8- to 2.4-V supply potential and generates a reference voltage of 206 mV with a process spread of 7.8%, achieving an average calibrated TC of 4.4 ppm/°C in the temperature range of −20°C to 80°C, and an average LS of 51.5 ppm/V with a power consumption of 25.9 pW at 25°C (469.1 pW at 80°C). © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.