Dh25647654

Amana Yadav / International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA) ISSN:
2248-9622 www.ijera.com
Vol. 2, Issue 5, September- October 2012, pp.647-654

Design of Two-Stage CMOS Op-Amp and Analyze the Effect of
Scaling
Amana Yadav
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, FET-MRIU, Faridabad, Haryana

Abstract:-
A method described in this paper is to worldwide sales is dominated by MOS market. CMOS
design a Two Stage CMOS operational amplifier technology continues to mature with minimum feature
and analyze the effect of various aspect ratios on sizes now. Designing high performance analog
the characteristics of this Op-Amp, which operates integrated circuits is becoming increasingly exigent
at 5V power supply using tsmc 0.35µm CMOS with the relentless trend toward reduced supply
technology. In this paper trade-off curves are voltages and transistor channel length. A large part of
computed between all characteristics such as Gain, the success of the MOS transistor is due to the fact that
PM, GBW, ICMRR, CMRR, Slew Rate etc. The it can be scaled to increasingly smaller dimensions,
OPAMP designed is a two-stage CMOS OPAMP. which results in higher performance. The feature size
The OPAMP is designed to exhibit a unity gain of individual transistor is shrinking from deep sum-
frequency of 14MHz and exhibits a gain of 77.25dB micrometer (DSM) to even nanometer region. As the
with a 85.850 phase margin. Design has been scale of integration improves, more transistors, faster
carried out in Mentor graphics tools. Simulation and smaller than their predecessors, are being packed
results are verified using Model Sim Eldo and into a chip. This leads to the steady growth of the
Design Architect IC. operating frequency and processing capacity per chip.
The task of CMOS operational amplifiers (Op-
Amps) design optimization is investigated in this Operational Amplifier is the most common
work. This Paper focused on the optimization of building blocks of most of the electronics system may
various aspect ratios, which gave the result of not need introduction. The design of OPAMPs
different parameter. When this task is analyzed as continues to pose a challenge as the supply voltage
a search problem, it can be translated into a multi- and transistor channel lengths scale down with each
objective optimization application in which various generation of CMOS technologies. At different aspect
Op-Amps’ specifications have to be taken into ratio, there is a tradeoff among speed, power, gain and
account, i.e., Gain, GBW (gain-bandwidth other performance parameters. The realization of a
product), phase margin and others. The results are CMOS OPAMP that combines a considerable dc gain
compared with respect to standard characteristics with high unity gain frequency has been a difficult
of the op-amp with the help of graph and table. problem. There have been several circuit approaches
Simulation results agree with theoretical to evade this problem.
predictions. Simulations confirm that the settling
time can be further improved by increasing the The aim of the design methodology in this
value of GBW, the settling time is achieved 19ns, paper is to propose straightforward yet accurate
gain is 77.25dB and a value of phase margin is equations for the design of high-gain 2 staged CMOS
73.30. It has been demonstrated that when W/L op-amp. To do this, a simple analysis with some
increases the parameters GBW increases and meaningful parameters (phase margin, gain-
settling time reduces. bandwidth, etc.) is performed. The method handles a
very wide variety of specifications and constraints. In
Keywords this paper, we formulate the CMOS op-amp design
CMOS Analog Circuit, 2 stage CM OS problem and their aspect ratios. The method we
Operational amplifier, Stability, GBW, Device Design, present can be applied to a wide variety of amplifier
Scale Length, Scaling, Differential Amp. architectures, but in this paper we apply the method to
a specific two stage CMOS op-amp. The variation in
I. Introduction the performance of the op-amp with variations in the
Over the last few years, the electronics width and length of the CMOS and the effect of
industry has exploded. The largest segment of total scaling the gate oxide thickness is discussed.

647 | P a g e


The simulation results have been obtained by
tsmc 0.35 micron CMOS technology. Design has been
carried out in Mentor Graphics tool. Simulation results
are verified using Model Sim Eldo and Design
Architect IC. Scaling effects are analyzed through
experimental data and computer simulations. This
search technique can be successfully applied to a class
of optimization problems. After the simulation, most
of the transistors’ size still needed to be modified in
order to optimize the performance. High gain in
operational amplifiers is not the only desired figure of
merit for all kind of signal processing applications.
Simultaneously optimizing all parameters has become
mandatory now a day in operational amplifier design.
Figure 1. Block diagram of Op-Amp
In this case, the slew rate will increase for an
increase in current. However, if the widths of the The first block is a differential amplifier. It
devices are increased with the bias voltages held has two inputs which are the inverting and non-
constant. Thus, we can conclude that the selection of inverting voltage. It provides at the output a
device sizes depends on trade-offs between stability differential voltage or a differential current that,
(phase margin) and slew-rate. essentially, depends on the differential input only. The
As such, for the fastest slew-rate, the smallest channel next block is a differential to single-ended converter. It
length (350 nm) will be used, and at this length, the is used to transform the differential signal generated
device is in the short channel regime and will require by the first block into a single ended version. Some
short channel topologies. architecture doesn’t require the differential to single
ended function; therefore the block can be excluded.
Outline of paper In most cases the gain provided by the input stages is
This paper composed this work. Section II not sufficient and additional amplification is required.
discusses the 2 stage amplifier and design This is provided by intermediate stage, which is
optimization. Section III reviews the 2 stage CMOS another differential amplifier, driven by the output of
Op-amp schematic design. Its specifications are briefly the first stage. As this stage uses differential input
clarified, also gives the formula or calculation for unbalanced output differential amplifier, so it provide
designing of 2 stage CMOS Op-amp. Section IV required extra gain. The bias circuit is provided to
presents the simulation results of the proposed op- establish the proper operating point for each transistor
amp, tables and graphs for optimization technique. in its saturation region. Finally, we have the output
Section V gives the scaling and finally section VI buffer stage. It provides the low output impedance and
concludes this work. larger output current needed to drive the load of op-
amp or improves the slew rate of the op –amp. Even
II. Block diagram of two stage CMOS op-amp the output stage can be dropped: many integrated
Operational Amplifiers are the backbone for applications do not need low output impedance;
many analog circuit designs. Op-Amps are one of the moreover, the slew rate permitted by the gain stage
basic and important circuits which have a wide can be sufficient for the application. If the op-amp is
application in several analog circuit such as switched intended to drive a small purely capacitive load, which
capacitor filters, algorithmic, pipelined and sigma is the case in many switched capacitor or data
delta A/D converter, sample and hold amplifier etc. conversion applications, the output buffer is not used.
The speed and accuracy of these circuits depends on When the output stage is not used the circuit, it is an
the bandwidth and DC gain of the Op-amp. Larger the operational transconductance amplifier, OTA. The
bandwidth and gain, higher the speed and accuracy of purpose of the compensation circuit is lower the gain
the amplifier Op-amp are a critical element in analog at high frequencies and to maintain stability when
sampled data circuit, such as SC filters, modulators. negative feedback is applied to the op amp.
The general block diagram of an op-amp with an
output buffer is shown below

648 | P a g e


A. Circuit Operation subtracted from the current from M2. The differential
The final circuit designed to meet the current from M1 and M2 multiplied by the output
required specifications is shown in Figure 2. The resistance of the first stage gives the single-ended
topology of this circuit is that of a standard CMOS op- output voltage, which constitutes the input of the
amp. It comprised of three subsections of second gain stage.

C. Second Gain Stage
The second stage is a current sink load
inverter. The purpose of the second gain stage, as the
name implies, is to provide additional gain in the
amplifier. Consisting of transistors M5 and M6, this
stage takes the output from the drain of M2 and
amplifies it through M5 which is in the standard
common source configuration. Again, similar to the
differential gain stage, this stage employs an active
device, M6, to serve as the load resistance for M5. The
gain of this stage is the transconductance of M5 times
the effective load resistance comprised of the output
resistances of M5 and M6. M6 is the driver while M7
acts as the load.

D. Bias String
Figure2. The topology chosen for this Op-Amp design.
The biasing of the operational amplifier is
circuit, namely differential gain stage, second gain achieved with only four transistors. Transistors M8
stage and bias strings. It was found that this topology and M9 form a simple current mirror bias string that
was able to successfully meet all of the design supplies a voltage between the gate and source of M7
specifications. and M6. Transistors M6 and M7 sink a certain amount
of current based on their gate to source voltage which
B. Differential Gain Stage is controlled by the bias string. M8 and M9 are diode
Transistors M1, M2, M3, and M4 form the connected to ensure they operate in the saturation
first stage of the op amp the differential amplifier with region. Proper biasing of the other transistors in the
differential to single ended transformation. Transistors circuit (M1-M5) is controlled by the node voltages
M1 and M2 are standard N channel MOSFET present in the circuit itself. Most importantly, M5 is
(NMOS) transistors which form the basic input stage biased by the gate to source voltage (VGS) set up by
of the amplifier. The gate of M1 is the inverting input the VGS of the current mirror load as are the
and the gate of M2 is the non-inverting input. A transistors M1 and M2.
differential input signal applied across the two input
terminals will be amplified according to the gain of the III. Design of the op-amp
differential stage. The gain of the stage is simply the The first aspect considered in the design was
transconductance of M2 times the total output the specifications to be met. They appear in Table 1
resistance seen at the drain of M2. The two main
resistances that contribute to the output resistance are Table1. Custom Design Specifications of the amplifier
that of the input transistors themselves and also the
output resistance of the active load transistors, M3 and Specification Names Values
M4. The current mirror active load used in this circuit Supply VDD 5V
has three distinct advantages. First, the use of active Gain ≥ 70dB
load devices creates a large output resistance in a Gain Bandwidth 10MHz
relatively small amount of die area. The current mirror Settling Time 1u Sec
topology performs the differential to single-ended Slew Rate 10V/uSec
conversion of the input signal, and finally, the load Input common Mode Range 1.5 – 2.8V
also helps with common mode rejection ratio. In this Common mode rejection ratio ≥60dB
stage, the conversion from differential to single ended Output Swing 1 – 2.8V
is achieved by using a current mirror (M3 and M4). Offset ≤10m
The current from M1 is mirrored by M3 and M4 and

649 | P a g e


A. Design Methodology of Op-amp and for the circuit analysis in Model Sim Eldo of
Mentor Graphic Tool.Schematic used in this design is
3.1.1 Determine the necessary open-loop gain (Ao)
gm1 = gm2 = gmI, gm6 = gmII, gds2 + gds4 = GI, and gds6 +
gds7 = GII
𝑊
𝜇 𝑛 ,𝑝 𝐶𝑜𝑥 𝑉𝑒𝑓𝑓 2
𝐿
𝐼𝑑 = 2
(1)

𝑊
gm = 2𝜇 𝑛,𝑝 𝐶𝑜𝑥 𝐼𝑑 (2)
𝐿

𝐼𝑑
gm = 2 𝑉 𝑒𝑓𝑓
(3)

𝐼5
Slew rate 𝑆𝑅 = 𝐶𝐶
(4)

−𝑔𝑚 1 −2𝑔𝑚 1
First stage gain 𝐴 𝑣1 = = (5)
𝑔𝑑𝑠 2 +𝑔𝑑𝑠 4 𝐼5 (𝜆 2 + 𝜆 4 )

−𝑔𝑚 6
Second stage gain 𝐴 𝑣2 = =
𝑔𝑑𝑠 6 +𝑔𝑑𝑠 7

−𝑔𝑚 6
(6)
𝐼6 (𝜆 6 + 𝜆 7 )
Figure 3. Schematic design of 2 stage CMOS Op-
𝑔𝑚 1
Gain Bandwidth GB = (7) Amp
𝐶𝐶

−𝑔𝑚 6 Open Loop Gain: It is the ratio between output
Output pole 𝑝2= (8)
𝐶𝐿 voltage and differential input voltage. Because the
𝑔𝑚 6 output signal is much larger than the input signal, so it
RHP zero 𝑍1= (9) is commonly called as large signal voltage gain.
𝐶𝐶

𝐼5 Slew Rate: The maximum rate of change of output
Positive CMR 𝑉𝑖𝑛 (max) = 𝑉 𝐷𝐷 − − voltage per unit time. (dVo/dt) The slope of the output
𝛽3
𝑉 𝑇𝑂3 (max) + VT1 (min) (10) signal is the slew rate.

𝐼5 Rise Time: the time required by the output to go from
Negative CMR 𝑉𝑖𝑛 (min) = 𝑉𝑆𝑆 + + 10% to 90% of its final value is called the rise time.
𝛽1
𝑉 𝑇1 (max) + VDS 5 (sat) (11)
CMRR: Common Mode Rejection ratio is the ratio
2𝐼 𝐷𝑆 between differential gain and common mode gain.
Saturation voltage 𝑉 𝐷𝑆 (sat) = (12)
𝛽
IV. Simulation results
It is assumed that all transistors are in saturation for To analyze the behavior of variations in
the above relationships. aspect ratios, first discuss the results of basic design of
two stage CMOS Op-amp
The design in this project is a two-stage op amp with
an n-channel input pair. The op amp uses a dual- A. AC Analysis
polarity power supply (Vdd and Vss) so the ac signals In AC- Analysis we determine Phase margin, Gain
can swing above and below ground and also be and GB of the OP-Amp.
centered at ground. The hand calculation results  Start frequency = 1Hz
provided the estimated parameters (such as transistor  Stop frequency = 10 MHz
width and length, capacitance, etc.) to make the circuit
schematic (shown in figure 3) in Design Architect IC

650 | P a g e


Figure 6. Result of Slew Rate
Figure 4. Output of AC Analysis
The slew rate achieved in this design is 10.32 V/µs.

Figure 5. Result of CMRR
Figure 7. Result of ICMR
Output: The output results of AC analysis is as follows

Gain = 77.249 dB ω-3db = 1.3 KHz
Phase margin = 85.850 ωUGB = 14.1MHz
CMRR = 80.985 dB

B. Transient Analysis
The non inverting terminal is connected to a
pulse with a rise and fall time equal to 1n sec (0.1us)
and a pulse width of 384.61us. The value of pulse
period is 769.23us. This analysis helps to determine
the slew rate of the op-amp.

Figure 8. Output Swing

651 | P a g e


Consider all W/L of reference circuit as (W/L)1 and f
Positive Slew Rate = 10.328V/us is a multiplication factor.
Settling Time = 0.4 us (W/L)n = f * (W/L)1
Negative Slew Rate = 9.40V/us
ICMR = 0.9 – 3.237 V A. By Reducing L:
Output Swing = 0.0 - 3.28V
Table 3. Values of various parameters after reducing
V. Scaling value of L
Proportional adjustment of the dimensions of Results f =1 f = 2, f = 3, f= 4, L
an electronic device while maintaining the electrical
L=L1/2 L=L1/3 = L1/4
properties of the device, results in a device either
larger or smaller than the un-scaled device is called Gain (dB) 77.24 69.36 58.9 47.53
scaling. Scaling allows people to build more complex
machines that run faster too and it does let you design
PM 53.460 59.960 65.570 73.30
more modules.
Impact of scaling is characterized in terms of several
ω -3dB (KHz ) 1.3 4.12 15.2 63.275
indicators:
 Minimum feature size
ωUGB (MHz ) 8.6 11.35 12.86 14.853
 Number of gates on one chip
 Power dissipation
 Maximum operational frequency CMRR (dB) 80.985 78 67.29 53.49
 Production cost
ICMR (V) 0.9 – 0.812 – 0.75 – 0.93 –
Implications of Scaling 3.23 3.245 3.224 3.13

1. Improved Performance Slew Rate 10.347, 10.931, 13.742, 26.078,
2. Improved Cost (V/µs) -9.527 -9.18 -9 -10.25
3. Interconnect Woes
4. Power Woes
5. Productivity Challenges Settling 0.4 0.347 0.304 0.0192
6. Physical Limits Time ( µs)

Reference Circuit L = 1.4 um Output 0.0 – 0.0 – 0.0 – 0.0 –
Swing (V) 3.28 3.287 3.282 3.253
Table 2. Values of W of reference circuit
Name Values

W1, W2 12

W3, W4 23

W5, W8 20

W6 195

W7 90

652 | P a g e


B. By increasing W:
Table 4. Values of various parameters after
increasing value of W

Results f =1 f = 2, f = 3, f= 4,W
W=2W1 W=3W1 =4W1

Gain (dB) 77.24 78.165 78.38 78.417

PM 53.460 47.970 43.360 40.050

ω -3dB (KHz ) 1.3 1.47 1.58 1.654

ω UGB ( MHz) 8.6 10.37 11.05 11.258

CMRR(dB) 80.985 85.56 87.993 89.56

ICMR(V) 0.9 –3.23 0.8 – 3.258 0.76 – 0.73 –3.27
3.266 Figure 10.Variations in Parameters with increasing W

Slew Rate 10.347, 10.469, 10.494, 10.49, - VI. Conclusion
(V/µs) -9.527 -8.68 -8.873 8.82 This paper presented the full custom design of a two
stage CMOS Op-Amp and analyzed its behavior for
Settling 0.4 µs 0.383 µs 0.4 µs 0.36 µs various aspect ratios. Design technique for this Op-
Time Amp, its calculations and computer-aided simulation
results are given in detail. The results show that the
Output 0.0 –3.28 0.0 – 3.297 0.0 – 0.0 -3.295 designed amplifier has successfully satisfied all the
Swing (V) 3.285 specifications given in advance. Tables and graphs of
different parameters for various aspect ratios are
drawn.
Graph: Graph shows the variations in different
parameter of Op-Amp with various aspect ratios. As a summary, a tables and graphs are provided to
estimates the scaling limits for various applications
and device types. The end result is that there is no
single end point for scaling, but that instead there are
many end points, each optimally adapted to its
particular applications.

VII. Acknowledgements
With a deep sense of gratitude, I wish to
express my sincere thanks to Dr. S C Bose, Scientist
E2 (CEERI Pilani) for his helpful discussion. Also
wish to acknowledge the IC Design Group of CEERI,
Pilani for their inspiration and heartfelt support.

Figure 9.Variations in Parameters with reducing L

653 | P a g e


References [14] H. Onodera, H. Kanbara, and K. Tamaru,
[1] Maria del Mar Herschensohn, Stephen P. “Operational amplifier compilation with
Boyd, Thomas H. Lee, “GPCAD: A Tool for performance optimization”. IEEE Journal of
CMOS Op-Amp Synthesis” International Solid- State Circuits, 25:466–473, April
Conference on Computer-Aided Design, 1990.
November 1998.
[2] Priyanka Kakoty, “Design of a high AUTHOR
frequency low voltage CMOS Operational
amplifier”, International Journal of VLSI
design & communication System (VLSICS),
Vol.2, No.1, pp. 73-85, March 2011.
[3] Maloberti Franco, “Analog Design for CMOS
VLSI Systems” KLUWER academic Amana Yadav is currently working as
Publisher, Boston/ Dordrecht/ London. a Assistant Professor in ECE Department of FET-
[4] Kang Sung-Mo, Leblebici Yusuf, “CMOS MRIU, Faridabad. She did B.E. in 2006 from
Digital Integrated Circuits, Analysis and Department of Electronics & Communication
design”, Tata McGraw-Hill Edition 2003, Engineering, Sri Balaji College of Engineering and
Third Edition. Technology, Rajasthan University and M. Tech in
[5] B.J. Hosticka, “Improvement of the Gain of 2008 from Mody Institute of Technology and Science,
CMOS Amplifiers”, IEEE Journal of Solid- Lakshmangarh. She did her thesis under the guidance
State Circuits, vol. SC-14, Issue 6, Dec.1979, of Dr. S. C. Bose Scientist E2, CEERI, Pilani. Her
pp.1111-1114. Research interests include VLSI Designing.
[6] P. Allen and D. Holmberg “CMOS Analog
Circuit Design”, 2nd Edition. Saunders
college publishing/HRW, Philadelphia, PA,
1998.
[7] Geiger R.L., Allen P. E and Strader N. R.,
“VLSI Design Techniques for Analog and
Digital Circuits”, McGraw-Hill Publishing
Company, 1990.
[8] Fiez Terri S., Yang Howard C., Yang John J.,
Yu Choung, Allstot David J., “ A Family of
High-Swing CMOS Operational Amplifiers”,
IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 26, NO. 6,
Dec. 1989.
[9] R. Castello, “CMOS buffer amplifier,” in
Analog Circuit Design, J.Huijsing, R. van der
Plassche, and W. Sansen, Eds. Boston, MA:
Kluwer Academic, 1993, pp. 113–138.
[10] B. Razavi, “Design of Analog CMOS
Integrated Circuits”, New York: Mc-Graw-
Hill, 2001.
[11] J. Mahattanakul, “Design procedure for two
stage CMOS operational amplifier employing
current buffer”, IEEE Trans. Circuits sys. II,
Express Briefs, vol 52, no.11, pp.766-770,
Nov 2005.
[12] Jhon and Ken Martin “Analog Integrated
Circuit Design”, Wiley India Pvt. Ltd, 1997.
[13] P.R. Gray, P.J. Hurst, S.H. Lewis and R.G.
Meyer, “Analysis and Design of Analog
Integrated Circuits”, Forth Edition. John
Wiley &Sons, Inc., 2001.

654 | P a g e

Dh25647654

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to Dh25647654

Dh25647654