A. MOSFET-Based Dynamic Comparator
The following parameters must be studied in order to exhibit the comparator's characteristics: 1) Power consumption (PD): This refers to the total dynamic power used by all transistors. 2) Propagation delay (tP): the amount of time, measured at 50% of the clock signal, between the edge of the clock and the end of phase one. 3) Power delay product (PDP): This term refers to the product of propagation delay (tP) and power consumption (PD). The tP is depicted in Fig. 11 versus VDD with a sampling frequency of 1 MHz and a load capacitance of 1 fF.
According to Fig. 11, as the VDD is increased, the tP reduces, causing more current to be pulled from it. At a sampling frequency (fS) of 1 MHz and a load capacitance of 1 fF, Fig. 12 depicts the power consumption versus VDD. According to the previous explanation and what is seen in Fig. 12, the power consumption rises as more current is pulled from the device.
The two curves in Figs. 11 and 12 are multiplied to get Fig. 13. The minimum and maximum amounts of PDP are shown in Fig. 13 to be 0.02 fJ and 0.0775 fJ at 1 volts and 0.5 volts, respectively. We draw the conclusion that the optimal MOSFET-based comparator design is attained at a voltage of 1V, based on Fig. 13. MOSFETs are thus not appropriate for the design of digital circuits at very low voltages, because the minimum PDP occurs at a voltage of 1V.
Figure 14. Power consumption versus sampling frequency in the MOSFET post-layout simulation of comparator in the load capacitance of 1 fF (a) VDD = 0.5 V, (b) VDD = 1 V.
The comparator must operate more quickly in order to raise the fS, which leads to an increase in current and power consumption. The maximum frequencies in Fig. 14(a) and (b) are equivalent to 2 GHz and 80 MHz, respectively, with VDD of 1 V and 0.5 V. The maximum frequency drops when the VDD decreases, since the current consumed by it does as well. In Fig. 14(b), this problem is depicted. The comparator's reaction to high load capacitances is one of its capabilities. This circuit has a maximum capacitance of 15 pF, which is unusually high for integrated circuits.
B. Homo-Structure TFET- Based Dynamic Comparators
This section implements a homo-structure TFET-based dynamic comparator circuit. The three parameters of propagation delay, power consumption, and PDP will be investigated in comparison to the MOSFET based comparator in section Ⅲ-A.
1) Propagation delay (tP): As can be observed by comparing Figs. 11 and 16, the TFET based comparator curve has a sharper downward exponential slope than the MOSFET-based comparator, which has the same structure. CTFET technology's comparator can operate with VDD=0.2V and deliver results that are comparable to those of MOSFET-based comparator at 1V. As a more general result, CTFET-based comparator brings the capabilities of very low voltages and very high frequency at the same time.
2) Power consumption (PD): PD has a second-degree relationship with VDD. Figure 17 demonstrates the correlation between PD and VDD. When comparing Figs. 12 and 17, it becomes evident that the TFET performs proficiently with low PD at voltages under 0.5 V, as depicted in Fig. 17. Conversely, Fig. 12 illustrates the effective operation of the MOSFET above 0.5 volts with linear PD variations, signifying lower power consumption compared to the homo-structure TFET with its exponential changes. Consequently, for designing a comparator circuit with very low voltage and minimal power consumption, the only viable choice is the homo-structure TFET.
3) Power Delay Product (PDP): The amount of PDP is shown in terms of VDD in Fig. 18. This figure shows that the PDP grows exponentially as the VDD rises. As the VDD is increased, Fig. 13 shows that the PDP of the MOSFET-based comparator drops exponentially. Consequently, we conclude that MOSFETs are ideal for the design of comparators at VDD voltages above 0.5V, particularly the VDD of 1V, whereas homo-structured TFETs are suitable for developing comparators at a VDD below 0.5V, i.e., very low voltage applications. The homo-structured TFETs may be employed to create very low voltage comparators.
According to Fig. 19, the power consumption rises as the sampling frequency rises, which is consistent with the equation
$$\:\:P={C}_{L}\times\:{V}_{DD}^{2}\:\times\:{f}_{s}$$
1
where VDD denotes the DC power supply, fs denotes the sampling frequency, and CL is the load capacitance.
According to Fig. 15, the MOSFET-based comparator can support loads well up to 15 pF, and Fig. 20 illustrates that the homo-structured TFET-based comparator can support load capacitances up to 10 pF. The relation between load capacitance and power consumption is linear. MOSFET transistors were capable of supporting 1.5 times the capacitance of homo-structure TFETs because they had a higher current.
C. Hetero-Structure TFET Based Dynamic Comparators
The Verilog-A transistor model of section Ⅱ-C is utilized to create the dynamic comparator circuit in this part, based on hetero-structure TFET. The three parameters of propagation delay, power consumption, and PDP are studied in this part, as in sections Ⅲ-A and Ⅲ-B.
1) Propagation Delay (tP): The tP versus VDD is depicted in Fig. 21. The propagation delay in the comparator with hetero-structure TFET has been decreased by around a tenth when compared to the homo-structure TFET, as seen by comparison between Figs. 21 and 16. Since the gm of the hetero-structure TFET is larger than that of the homo-structure TFET, it performs better at high frequencies than the homo-structure at very low voltage applications (below 0.5 V).
2) Power consumption (PD): In Fig. 22, power consumed is depicted versus VDD. According to this figure, the power consumption grows by a factor of two times the square of the VDD. By comparing Figs. 17 and 22, it can be seen that hetero-structure TFETs consume more power than homo-structure TFETs since their gm are larger.
3) PDP: The PDP versus VDD is shown in Fig. 23. According to this figure, the PDP value grows as the VDD increases. As compared to Fig. 18 it can be seen that for voltages below 0.5 volts, the PDP of the hetero-structure TFET comparator is lower than the PDP of the homo-structure TFET comparator. Consequently, in very low voltage applications, the performance of the hetero-structure TFET comparator is the highest among all studied structures.
The power consumption in terms of sampling frequency is shown in Fig. 24. This graph shows that the power usage rises linearly as the sampling frequency rises.
The PD is depicted in Fig. 25 as a function of load capacitance. This figure, together with Figs. 20 and 15, led to the conclusion that the hetero-structure TFET-based comparator has significantly larger capability to support load capacitances. Because capacitances up to 1 nF may be supported by this structure.
Table Ⅰ shows the state of the art’s implementations in 65 nm technology. The table compares simulation results for homo- and hetero-structure tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs), post-layout MOSFET simulation data, and simulation results from other references with various specifications, such as technology node, maximum sampling frequency, load capacitance, supply voltage, power consumption, propagation delay, and power-delay product (PDP).
Device capacitances and gm are traded off in the context of CMOS and CTFET technologies. The capacitance (CGS and CGD) in the transistor model of CTFET technology is significantly lower than the capacitances of comparable CMOS model. The gm of the CMOS transistor, in contrast, is significantly greater than that of the CTFET transistor. As a result, CMOS has a lower power consumption and PDP than CTFET, while CTFET has a lower propagation delay and higher maximum sampling frequency.
TABLE I
State of the art’s implementations in 65 nm technology
Specifications | Ref. [1] | Ref. [1] | Ref. [2] | Ref. [3] | MOSFET Post-Layout Simulation | Homo-TFET | Hetero-TFET |
Technology(nm) | 65 | 65 | 65 | 65 | 65 | 65 | 65 |
Max. Sampling Frequency(GS/s) | 6.66 | 6.66 | 0.125 | 0.125 | 2 | 3.34 | 25 |
Load Capacitance(fF) | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Supply Voltage(v) | 1 | 0.9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.45 | 0.45 |
Power Consumption(µw) | 50.57 | 34.3 | 35.5 | 28.2 | 48.66 | 5.16 | 39 |
Propagation Delay(ps) | 47.140 | 47.140 | 87.2 | 446.7 | 89.5 | 97.06 | 11.07 |
PDP(fJ) | 2.380 | 1.610 | 3.095 | 12.596 | 4.355 | 0.5 | 0.43 |