Startup Techniques for 95 mV Step-Up Converter by Capacitor Pass-On Scheme and ${\rm V}_{\rm TH}$-Tuned Oscillator With Fixed Charge Programming

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Po-Hung Chen - , Tokyo University of Agriculture (Author)
  • Koichi Ishida - , Chair of Circuit Design and Network Theory, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo University of Agriculture (Author)
  • Katsuyuki Ikeuchi - , Tokyo University of Agriculture (Author)
  • Xin Zhang - , Chair of Physical Chemistry, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo University of Agriculture (Author)
  • Kentaro Honda - , Tokyo University of Agriculture (Author)
  • Yasuyuki Okuma - , Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center (STARC) (Author)
  • Yoshikatsu Ryu - , Semiconductor Technology Academic Research Center (STARC) (Author)
  • Makoto Takamiya - , Tokyo University of Agriculture (Author)
  • Takayasu Sakurai - , Tokyo University of Agriculture (Author)

Abstract

This paper presents a 95 mV startup-voltage step-up DC-DC converter for energy harvesting applications. The capacitor pass-on scheme enables operation of the system from an input voltage of 95 mV without using additional off-chip components. To compensate for the die-to-die process variation, post-fabrication threshold voltage (VTH) trimming is applied to reduce the minimum operating voltage (VDDMIN) of the oscillator. Experimental results demonstrate the 34% VDDMIN reduction of the oscillator by post-fabrication VTH trimming. The proposed step-up converter achieves the lowest startup voltage in standard CMOS without using a mechanical switch or large transformer.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number6156478
Pages (from-to)1252-1260
Number of pages9
JournalIEEE journal of solid-state circuits
Volume47
Issue number5
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2012
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 84862786072
ORCID /0000-0002-4152-1203/work/165453421

Keywords

Keywords

  • Detectors, Transistors, Capacitors, Oscillators, Power demand, Power transistors, CMOS integrated circuits