Abstract: The digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) plays a significant role in modern electronic systems, and current-mode DACs are widely used due to their excellent properties. However, the non-ideal transition at switching instants of the unit circuit will directly affect the performance of the current-mode DAC. The parasitic effects resulting in non-ideal transition are analyzed in this paper. A simple structure unit circuit is proposed to diminish the non-ideal transition. The simulation results show that the parasitic effects are suppressed effectively, and a smoother output transition is achieved. The feasibility of the proposed current-mode DAC unit circuit is verified by the application in a frequency jitter circuit.

Key words: current-mode DAC unit circuit, non-ideal transition, parasitic effects suppression