Gain and slew rate enhancement for amplifiers through current starving and feeding

Abstract

A gain and slew rate enhancement technique for amplifiers, based on starving current in static state and feeding excessive current during slewing, is proposed in this paper. Demonstrated in a current-mirror amplifier using a standard 0.18-μm CMOS process, the dc gain is boosted by 15 dB, and the slew rate is enhanced by over 600% compared with a conventional current mirror amplifier and 1100% compared with a current-starved amplifier. In the meanwhile, static power consumption is reduced by more than 2/3 without sacrificing unity-gain frequency, output swing or stability. The total power dissipation is only 63.4 μW under 1.8 V supply.