A 13-bit, 8 MSample/s pipeline A/D converter

A 13-bit 8 MSample/s high-accuracy CMOS pipeline ADC is proposed. At the input, the sample-and-hold amplifier (SHA) is removed for low power and low noise; meanwhile, an improved sampling circuit is adopted to alleviate the clock skew effect. On-chip bias current is programmable to achieve low power dissipation at different sampling rates. Particularly, drain-to-source voltages in the operational amplifiers (opamps) are fixed to ensure high DC gain within the variant range of the bias current. Both on-chip and off-chip decoupling capacitors are used in the voltage reference circuit in consideration of low power and stability. The proposed ADC was implemented in 0.18-μm 1P6M CMOS technology. With a 2.4-MHz input, the measured peak SNDR and SFDR are 74.4 and 91.6 dB at 2.5 MSample/s, 74.3 and 85.4 dB at 8.0 MSample/s. It consumes 8.1, 21.6, 29.7, and 56.7 mW (including I/O drivers) when operating at 1.5, 2.5, 5.0, and 8.0 MSample/s with 2.7 V power supply, respectively. The chip occupies 3.2 mm2, including I/O pads.