Practical charge-transfer amplifier design architectures for low-power flash A/D converters

Two improved charge-transfer amplifiers (CTAs), used as zero-static-bias comparator preamplifiers in flash analog-digital converters, are proposed. The first improvement eliminates the capacitive coupling at the amplifier input, reducing area and input capacitance. The second eliminates the need for a common-mode output reference voltage by deriving the common-mode output from a switched average of the power supplies. In the latter, nearly a full-scale input range is achieved while preserving the low-power low offset characteristics of earlier CTAs. Voltage comparator devices were constructed in 0.6-μm double-poly, triple-metal CMOS to test the prototype CTA architectures. Input common-mode range and offset performance consistent with simulation data is demonstrated with a 10X reduction in input capacitance. Measured dynamic power dissipation on the order of 3-6 μW/MSPS is observed. The experimental CTA preamplifiers occupy roughly 0.015 mm².