Analysis and implementation of an improved recycling folded cascode amplifier

Abstract

A generally improved recycling folded cascode (IRFC) is analyzed and implemented. Analysis and comparisons among the IRFC, the original recycling folded cascode (RFC) and the conventional folded cascode (FC) are made, and it is shown that with the flexible structure of IRFC, significant enhancement in transconductance, slew rate and noise can be achieved. Prototype amplifiers were fabricated in 0.13 μm technology. Measurement shows that IRFC has 3× enhancement in gain-bandwidth and slew rate over conventional FC, and the enhancement is 1.5× when compared with the RFC.