A cryogenic 3.3-V supply, 1.6% 3<i>σ</i>-accuracy all-CMOS voltage reference with 58-dB PSR@10 kHz in 0.18-<i>μ</i>m CMOS

Yupeng Yuan; Yi Zhuo; Jianjun Tu; Qingjiang Xia; Yan Zhang; Wengao Lu; Xiangyang Li; Ding Ma

doi:10.1088/1674-4926/24120039

J. Semicond. > 2025, Volume 46 > Issue 8 > 082201

ARTICLES

A cryogenic 3.3-V supply, 1.6% 3σ-accuracy all-CMOS voltage reference with 58-dB PSR@10 kHz in 0.18-μm CMOS

Yupeng Yuan^{1, 2}, Yi Zhuo³, Jianjun Tu⁴, Qingjiang Xia³, Yan Zhang¹, Wengao Lu³, Xiangyang Li^1, and Ding Ma^1,

+ Author Affiliations

1. National Key Laboratory of Infrared Detection Technologies, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200083, China
2. School of Information Science and Technology, Shanghaitech University, Shanghai 201210, China
3. National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, School of Integrated Circuits, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
4. Naval Research Institute, Shanghai 200235, China

Author Bio:

Yupeng Yuan got his B.S. degree from Hefei University of Technology, he is a master student at ShanghaiTech University and under the supervision of Prof. Xiangyang Li in the National Key Laboratory of Infrared Detection Technologies, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on low-power circuit design.

Xiangyang Li is a Professor in the National Key Laboratory of Infrared Detection Technologies, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D. degree from Shandong University in 1998. His research interests focus on the semiconductor photodetector of HgCdTe, QWIP, and AlGaN.

Ding Ma is an Associate Professor in the National Key Laboratory of Infrared Detection Technologies, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D. degree from Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018. His research interests focus on readout circuit for high dynamic range.

Corresponding author: Xiangyang Li, lixy@mail.sitp.ac.cn; Ding Ma, mading@mail.sitp.ac.cn

DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/24120039CSTR: 32376.14.1674-4926.24120039

Abstract: This brief presents a cryogenic voltage reference circuit designed to operate effectively across a wide temperature range from 30 to 300 K. A key feature of the proposed design is utilizing a current subtraction technique for temperature compensation of the reference current, avoiding the deployment of bipolar transistors to reduce area and power consumption. Implemented with a 0.18-µm CMOS process, the circuit achieves a temperature coefficient (TC) of 67.5 ppm/K, which was not achieved in previous works. The design can also attain a power supply rejection (PSR) of 58 dB at 10 kHz. Meanwhile, the average reference voltage is 1.2 V within a 1.6% 3σ-accuracy spread. Additionally, the design is characterized by a minimal power dissipation of 1 µW at 30 K and a compact chip area of 0.0035 mm².

Key words: voltage reference, TC compensation, high accuracy, cryogenic CMOS, MOS-based, extreme environment

References

[1]	Liao X F, Zhang Y X, Zhang S H, et al. A 3.0 μ vrms, 2.4 ppm/°C BGR with feedback coefficient enhancement and bowl-shaped curvature compensation. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I Regul Pap, 2024, 71(5), 2424 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2024.3373788
[2]	Seok M, Kim G, Blaauw D, et al. A portable 2-transistor picowatt temperature-compensated voltage reference operating at 0.5 V. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2012, 47(10), 2534 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2012.2206683
[3]	Zhu Z M, Hu J, Wang Y T. A 0.45 V, nano-watt 0.033% line sensitivity MOSFET-only sub-threshold voltage reference with no amplifiers. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I Regul Pap, 2016, 63(9), 1370 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2016.2576643
[4]	Ji Y W, Lee J H, Kim B S, et al. A 192-pW voltage reference generating bandgap−V_th with process and temperature dependence compensation. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2019, 54(12), 3281 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2019.2942356
[5]	Wang L D, Zhan C C. A 0.7-V 28-nW CMOS subthreshold voltage and current reference in one simple circuit. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I Regul Pap, 2019, 66(9), 3457 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2019.2927240
[6]	Song L, Homulle H, Charbon E, et al. Characterization of bipolar transistors for cryogenic temperature sensors in standard CMOS. 2016 IEEE SENSORS, 2016, 1 doi: 10.1109/ICSENS.2016.7808759
[7]	Deng C, Wu S, Liu C C, et al. A systematic review of voltage reference circuits: Spanning room temperature to cryogenic applications. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I Regul Pap, 2024, 72(4), 1533 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2024.3507783
[8]	Charbon E. Cryo-CMOS electronics for quantum computing: Bringing classical electronics closer to qubits in space and temperature. IEEE Solid State Circuits Mag, 2021, 13(2), 54 doi: 10.1109/MSSC.2021.3072808
[9]	Wang Z W, Tang Z D, Guo A, et al. Temperature-driven gate geometry effects in nanoscale cryogenic MOSFETs. IEEE Electron Device Lett, 2020, 41(5), 661 doi: 10.1109/LED.2020.2984280
[10]	van Staveren J, Padalia P M, Charbon E, et al. Cryo-CMOS voltage references for the ultrawide temperature range from 300 K down to 4.2 K. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2024, 59(9), 2884 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2024.3378768
[11]	Yang Y Y, Das K, Moini A, et al. A cryo-CMOS voltage reference in 28-nm FDSOI. IEEE Solid State Circuits Lett, 2020, 3, 186 doi: 10.1109/LSSC.2020.3010234
[12]	Loose M, Beletic J, Garnett J, et al. High-performance focal plane arrays based on the HAWAII-2RG/4G and the SIDECAR ASIC. Proc SPIE, 2010, 6690, 124 doi: 10.1117/12.735625
[13]	Marqués-García J, Pérez-Bailón J, Celma S, et al. Characterization of 65-nm CMOS integrated resistors in the cryogenic regime. IEEE Trans Instrum Meas, 2024, 73, 2003303 doi: 10.1109/TIM.2024.3381286
[14]	Vittoz E A, Neyroud O. A low-voltage CMOS bandgap reference. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 1979, 14(3), 573 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.1979.1051218
[15]	Jiang J Z, Shu W, Chang J S. A 5.6 ppm/°C temperature coefficient, 87-dB PSRR, sub-1-V voltage reference in 65-nm CMOS exploiting the zero-temperature-coefficient point. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2017, 52(3), 623 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2016.2627544
[16]	Ueno K, Hirose T, Asai T, et al. A 300 nW, 15 ppm/℃, 20 ppm/V CMOS voltage reference circuit consisting of subthreshold MOSFETs. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2009, 44(7), 2047 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2009.2021922
[17]	Cao Y R, Zhuang H Y, Li Q. A 0.8-V supply, 1.58% 3σ-accuracy, 1.9-μW bandgap reference in 0.13-μm CMOS. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst II Express Briefs, 2024, 71(4), 1884 doi: 10.1109/TCSII.2023.3339236

Fig. 1. Principle of reference voltage generation.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 2. (a) Schematic of the proposed voltage reference. (b) Schematic of the inverter-type startup circuit.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 3. Simulated temperature dependence of $ {V}_{\rm{REF}} $ for $ {{V}}_{\mathrm{D}\mathrm{D}}=3.3\; \mathrm{V} $.

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Fig. 4. (Color online) (a) Cryogenic chip test setup for the voltage reference circuit measurements. (b) Die photograph. (c) Summary table of voltage reference circuit.

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Fig. 5. Measured temperature dependence of $ {V}_{\rm{REF}} $ for $ {{V}}_{\mathrm{D}\mathrm{D}}=3.3\;\mathrm{V} $.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Fig. 6. (Color online) Monte Carlo simulation of process manufacturing variations.

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Fig. 7. (a) Measured supply dependence of $ {V}_{\rm{REF}} $. (b) Measured PSR.

DownLoad: Full-Size Img PowerPoint

Table 1. Performance summary and comparison with state-of-art.

Pameters	This work	JSSC 2024^[10]			SSCL 2020^[11]	TCAS-II^[17]
Process	TSMC 180 nm 1P5M CMOS	TSMC 40 nm 1P7M CMOS	TSMC 40 nm 1P7M CMOS	TSMC 40 nm 1P7M CMOS	28 nm FDSOI CMOS	130 nm CMOS
Process	TSMC 180 nm 1P5M CMOS	NMOS	PMOS	DTMOS	28 nm FDSOI CMOS	130 nm CMOS
Temperature range (K)	30−300	4.2−300	4.2−300	4.2−300	4.2−300	253−398
V_REF (V)	1.2	300 K: 0.48 4.2 K: 0.48	300 K: 0.54 4.2 K: 0.71	300 K: 0.63 4.2 K: 0.60	300 K: 0.485 4.2 K: 0.685	0.2
Supply voltage (V)	2.7−3.6	0.96−1.1	0.99−1.1	0.98−1.1	1.21.8	0.5−1.3
Total power (µW)	300 K: 18 30 K: 1	300 K: 13.7 4.2 K: 5.1	300 K: 14.9 4.2 K: 8.2	300 K: 15.1 4.2 K: 7.8	300 K: 15.8 4.2 K: 13.9	300 K: 1.9
3σ_mean (%)	1.6*	1.2	2.6	2.7	N.A.	1.58
TC (ppm/K)	67.5	111	547	475	1214	22.3
BJT type	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES
PSR (dB)	58@10 kHz	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	51@DC	75@DC
Line regulation (%/V)	30 K: 0.67	300 K: 2.2 4.2 K: 1.3	300 K: 2.0 4.2 K: 2.6	300 K: 1.3 4.2 K: 2.7	300 K: 0.4 4.2 K: 0.6	N.A.
Area (mm²)	0.0035	0.006	0.009	0.009	0.041	0.052
Measure or simulation	Measure	Measure	Measure	Measure	Measure	Simulation
*Estimation based on Monte Carlo simulation.

DownLoad: CSV

[1]	Liao X F, Zhang Y X, Zhang S H, et al. A 3.0 μ vrms, 2.4 ppm/°C BGR with feedback coefficient enhancement and bowl-shaped curvature compensation. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I Regul Pap, 2024, 71(5), 2424 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2024.3373788
[2]	Seok M, Kim G, Blaauw D, et al. A portable 2-transistor picowatt temperature-compensated voltage reference operating at 0.5 V. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2012, 47(10), 2534 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2012.2206683
[3]	Zhu Z M, Hu J, Wang Y T. A 0.45 V, nano-watt 0.033% line sensitivity MOSFET-only sub-threshold voltage reference with no amplifiers. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I Regul Pap, 2016, 63(9), 1370 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2016.2576643
[4]	Ji Y W, Lee J H, Kim B S, et al. A 192-pW voltage reference generating bandgap−V_th with process and temperature dependence compensation. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2019, 54(12), 3281 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2019.2942356
[5]	Wang L D, Zhan C C. A 0.7-V 28-nW CMOS subthreshold voltage and current reference in one simple circuit. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I Regul Pap, 2019, 66(9), 3457 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2019.2927240
[6]	Song L, Homulle H, Charbon E, et al. Characterization of bipolar transistors for cryogenic temperature sensors in standard CMOS. 2016 IEEE SENSORS, 2016, 1 doi: 10.1109/ICSENS.2016.7808759
[7]	Deng C, Wu S, Liu C C, et al. A systematic review of voltage reference circuits: Spanning room temperature to cryogenic applications. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst I Regul Pap, 2024, 72(4), 1533 doi: 10.1109/TCSI.2024.3507783
[8]	Charbon E. Cryo-CMOS electronics for quantum computing: Bringing classical electronics closer to qubits in space and temperature. IEEE Solid State Circuits Mag, 2021, 13(2), 54 doi: 10.1109/MSSC.2021.3072808
[9]	Wang Z W, Tang Z D, Guo A, et al. Temperature-driven gate geometry effects in nanoscale cryogenic MOSFETs. IEEE Electron Device Lett, 2020, 41(5), 661 doi: 10.1109/LED.2020.2984280
[10]	van Staveren J, Padalia P M, Charbon E, et al. Cryo-CMOS voltage references for the ultrawide temperature range from 300 K down to 4.2 K. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2024, 59(9), 2884 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2024.3378768
[11]	Yang Y Y, Das K, Moini A, et al. A cryo-CMOS voltage reference in 28-nm FDSOI. IEEE Solid State Circuits Lett, 2020, 3, 186 doi: 10.1109/LSSC.2020.3010234
[12]	Loose M, Beletic J, Garnett J, et al. High-performance focal plane arrays based on the HAWAII-2RG/4G and the SIDECAR ASIC. Proc SPIE, 2010, 6690, 124 doi: 10.1117/12.735625
[13]	Marqués-García J, Pérez-Bailón J, Celma S, et al. Characterization of 65-nm CMOS integrated resistors in the cryogenic regime. IEEE Trans Instrum Meas, 2024, 73, 2003303 doi: 10.1109/TIM.2024.3381286
[14]	Vittoz E A, Neyroud O. A low-voltage CMOS bandgap reference. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 1979, 14(3), 573 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.1979.1051218
[15]	Jiang J Z, Shu W, Chang J S. A 5.6 ppm/°C temperature coefficient, 87-dB PSRR, sub-1-V voltage reference in 65-nm CMOS exploiting the zero-temperature-coefficient point. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2017, 52(3), 623 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2016.2627544
[16]	Ueno K, Hirose T, Asai T, et al. A 300 nW, 15 ppm/℃, 20 ppm/V CMOS voltage reference circuit consisting of subthreshold MOSFETs. IEEE J Solid State Circuits, 2009, 44(7), 2047 doi: 10.1109/JSSC.2009.2021922
[17]	Cao Y R, Zhuang H Y, Li Q. A 0.8-V supply, 1.58% 3σ-accuracy, 1.9-μW bandgap reference in 0.13-μm CMOS. IEEE Trans Circuits Syst II Express Briefs, 2024, 71(4), 1884 doi: 10.1109/TCSII.2023.3339236

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Received: 30 December 2024 Revised: 01 March 2025 Online: Accepted Manuscript: 21 March 2025Uncorrected proof: 17 April 2025Published: 01 August 2025

Article Navigation > Journal of Semiconductors > 2025 > 46(8): 082201

Yupeng Yuan, Yi Zhuo, Jianjun Tu, Qingjiang Xia, Yan Zhang, Wengao Lu, Xiangyang Li, Ding Ma. A cryogenic 3.3-V supply, 1.6% 3σ-accuracy all-CMOS voltage reference with 58-dB PSR@10 kHz in 0.18-μm CMOS[J]. Journal of Semiconductors, 2025, 46(8): 082201. doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/24120039 ****Y P Yuan, Y Zhuo, J J Tu, Q J Xia, Y Zhang, W G Lu, X Y Li, and D Ma, A cryogenic 3.3-V supply, 1.6% 3σ-accuracy all-CMOS voltage reference with 58-dB PSR@10 kHz in 0.18-μm CMOS[J]. J. Semicond., 2025, 46(8), 082201 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/24120039

Citation:

Y P Yuan, Y Zhuo, J J Tu, Q J Xia, Y Zhang, W G Lu, X Y Li, and D Ma, A cryogenic 3.3-V supply, 1.6% 3σ-accuracy all-CMOS voltage reference with 58-dB PSR@10 kHz in 0.18-μm CMOS[J]. J. Semicond., 2025, 46(8), 082201 doi: 10.1088/1674-4926/24120039

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PDF( 5460 KB)

A cryogenic 3.3-V supply, 1.6% 3σ-accuracy all-CMOS voltage reference with 58-dB PSR@10 kHz in 0.18-μm CMOS

DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/24120039

CSTR: 32376.14.1674-4926.24120039

1.
National Key Laboratory of Infrared Detection Technologies, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200083, China
2.
School of Information Science and Technology, Shanghaitech University, Shanghai 201210, China
3.
National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Micro/Nano Fabrication, School of Integrated Circuits, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
4.
Naval Research Institute, Shanghai 200235, China

More Information

Yupeng Yuan got his B.S. degree from Hefei University of Technology, he is a master student at ShanghaiTech University and under the supervision of Prof. Xiangyang Li in the National Key Laboratory of Infrared Detection Technologies, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on low-power circuit design
Xiangyang Li is a Professor in the National Key Laboratory of Infrared Detection Technologies, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D. degree from Shandong University in 1998. His research interests focus on the semiconductor photodetector of HgCdTe, QWIP, and AlGaN
Ding Ma is an Associate Professor in the National Key Laboratory of Infrared Detection Technologies, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D. degree from Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018. His research interests focus on readout circuit for high dynamic range
Corresponding author: lixy@mail.sitp.ac.cn; mading@mail.sitp.ac.cn
Received Date: 2024-12-30
Revised Date: 2025-03-01

Available Online: 2025-03-21

Abstract

Abstract

This brief presents a cryogenic voltage reference circuit designed to operate effectively across a wide temperature range from 30 to 300 K. A key feature of the proposed design is utilizing a current subtraction technique for temperature compensation of the reference current, avoiding the deployment of bipolar transistors to reduce area and power consumption. Implemented with a 0.18-µm CMOS process, the circuit achieves a temperature coefficient (TC) of 67.5 ppm/K, which was not achieved in previous works. The design can also attain a power supply rejection (PSR) of 58 dB at 10 kHz. Meanwhile, the average reference voltage is 1.2 V within a 1.6% 3σ-accuracy spread. Additionally, the design is characterized by a minimal power dissipation of 1 µW at 30 K and a compact chip area of 0.0035 mm².
- voltage reference,
- TC compensation,
- high accuracy,
- cryogenic CMOS,
- MOS-based,
- extreme environment

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