Ratio-Based Temperature-Sensing Technique Hardened Against Nanometer Process Variations

Author

Ituero, Pablo ; Lopez-Vallejo, Marisa

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Eng., Univ. Politec. de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Volume

13

Issue

2

fYear

2013

fDate

Feb. 2013

Firstpage

442

Lastpage

443

Abstract

This letter presents a temperature-sensing technique on the basis of the temperature dependency of MOSFET leakage currents. To mitigate the effects of process variation, the ratio of two different leakage current measurements is calculated. Simulations show that this ratio is robust to process spread. The resulting sensor is quite small-0.0016 mm² including an analog-to-digital conversion-and very energy efficient, consuming less than 640 pJ/conversion. After a two-point calibration, the accuracy in a range of 40°C-110°C is less than 1.5°C , which makes the technique suitable for thermal management applications.

Keywords

MOSFET; analogue-digital conversion; calibration; electric current measurement; leakage currents; temperature measurement; temperature sensors; thermal management (packaging); MOSFET leakage current measurement; analog-to-digital conversion; nanometer process variation mitigation; ratio-based temperature-sensing technique; temperature 40 degC to 110 degC; thermal management applications; two-point calibration; Current measurement; Leakage current; Temperature dependence; Temperature measurement; Temperature sensors; Thermal management; Voltage measurement; Leakage; process variations; ratio-based; sensor; temperature; time-to-digital;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Sensors Journal, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1530-437X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSEN.2012.2227713

Filename

6353878