ANALYSIS OF THE RECTIFYING PROPERTIES OF NANOMETER MOS TRANSISTORS IN A DIODE CONNECTION AT ULTRALOW VOLTAGE
Abstract
Advances in microelectronics, especially the development of CMOS technology, have made it possible to create devices with extremely low power consumption. This made it possible to develop autonomous wireless devices that, using radio waves, not only receive, process, and transmit information, but also receive power from the terminals. For wireless and battery-free power supply, harvesting of radio frequency energy from the environment can be used: radiation energy from cellular stations, radio and television stations, microwave ovens, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other sources. To convert radio frequency energy into supply voltage, rectifiers based on nanometer diode-connected MOSFETs are most often used. When wireless powered devices are located far from the terminal or harvest energy from the environment, the power density of the electromagnetic field and therefore the amplitude of the input voltage can be quite small. The urgent task is to develop and study such devices capable of operating at very low input voltages. The purpose of the study is to analyze the rectifying properties of diodes based on nanometer MOSFETs in weak inversion mode at ultra-low input voltages and to develop recommendations for the choice of technology and design of microcircuits with wireless power. Expressions are obtained for estimating the rectification coefficients of diodes in terms of current and power. Calculations using the obtained expressions and modeling using the BSIM4v4.8.2 model of current-voltage characteristics and dependences of diode rectification coefficients for current and power on voltage for a typical 90 nm CMOS technology were performed. The possibility of constructing rectifiers based on MOSFETs at ultralow voltages down to units of mV has been demonstrated. Recommendations are given for justifying technological and design parameters when designing modules for converting and harvesting energy of wireless devices.
References
perioda razvitiya radiosvyazi], ed. by prof. V.N. Ushakova. Saint Petersburg: Izd-vo SPbGETU
«LETI», 2008, 288 p.
2. Wang A., Calhoun B.H., Chandrakasan A.P. Sub-threshold Voltage Circuit Design for Ultra Low
Power Systems. New York: Springer, 2006, 209 p.
3. Reynders N., Dehaene W. Ultra-Low-Voltage Design of Energy-Efficient Digital Circuits. New York:
Springer, 2015, 192 p.
4. Shinohara N. Wireless Power Transfer via Radiowaves. London: ISTE Ltd., 2014, 238 p.
5. Tran L.-G., Cha H.-K., Park W.-T. RF power harvesting: a review on designing methodologies and
applications, Micro and Nano Systems Letters, 2017, Vol. 5, No. 14, pp. 1-16.
6. Clerckx B., Zhang R., Schober R., Ng D.W.K., Kim D.I., Poor H.V. Fundamentals of Wireless Information
and Power Transfer: From RF Energy Harvester Models to Signal and System Designs, IEEE
J. on selected areas in communications, 2019, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 4-33.
7. Smith J.R. Wirelessly Powered Sensor Networks and Computational RFID. New York: Springer,
2013, 271 p.
8. Luo Y., Pu L., Wang G., Zhao Y. RF Energy Harvesting Wireless Communications: RF Environment,
Device Hardware and Practical Issues, Sensors, 2019, Vol. 19, Article 3010, 28 p.
9. Visser H.J., Reniers A.C.F., Theeuwes J.A.C. Ambient RF Energy Scavenging: GSM and WLAN
Power Density Measurements, Proceedings of the 38th European Microwave Conference. October
2008, The Netherlands, Amsterdam, pp. 721-724.
10. Pinuela M., Mitcheson P.D., Lucyszyn S. Ambient RF Energy Harvesting in Urban and Semi-Urban
Environments, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2013, Vol. 61, No. 7,
pp. 2715-2726.
11. Alhekail Z.O., Hadi M.A., Alkanhal M.A. Public safety assessment of electromagnetic radiation exposure
from mobile base stations, J. of radiological protection, 2012, Vol. 32, pp. 325-337.
12. Pinuela M., Yates D. C., Mitcheson P.D., Lucyszyn S. London RF Survey for Radiative Ambient RF
Energy Harvesters and Efficient DC-load Inductive Power Transfer, 7th European Conference on Antennas
and Propagation (EUCAP 2013). IEEE, 2013, pp. 2839-2843.
13. Vyas R.J., Cook B.B., Kawahara Y., Tentzeris M.M. E-WEHP: A Batteryless Embedded Sensor-
Platform Wirelessly Powered from Ambient Digital-TV Signals, IEEE Transactions on microwave
theory and techniques, 2013, Vol. 61, No 6, pp. 2491-2505.
14. International Roadmap for Devices and Systems. More than Moore White Paper. IEEE, 2022, 56 p.
15. International Roadmap for Devices and Systems. Executive Summary. IEEE, 2022, 76 p.
16. Konoplev B.G., Sinyukin A.S. Issledovanie vypryamiteley na osnove nanorazmernykh MOPtranzistorov
dlya mikrosistem s besprovodnym pitaniem [Research of rectifiers based on nanoscale
MOS-devices for microsystems with wireless power supply], Izvestiya YuFU. Tekhnicheskie nauki
[Izvestiya SFedU. Engineering Sciences], 2018, No. 2 (196), pp. 105-113.
17. Sinyukin A.S., Konoplev B.G. Issledovanie vliyaniya parametrov nanorazmernykh MOP-tranzistorov
na kharakteristiki preobrazovateley energii dlya passivnykh besprovodnykh ustroystv [Research of the
influence of parameters of nano-sized MOSFETs on the characteristics of energy converters for passive
wireless devices], Izvestiya YuFU. Tekhnicheskie nauki [Izvestiya SFedU. Engineering Sciences],
2019, No. 6 (208), pp. 15-24.
18. Sinyukin A.S., Konoplev B.G. Integrated CMOS Microwave Power Converter for Passive Wireless
Devices, Russian Microelectronics, 2021, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 189-196.
19. Shokrani M.R., Khoddam M., Hamidon M.N.B., Kamsani N.A., Rokhani F.Z., Shafie S.B. An RF Energy
Harvester System Using UHF Micropower CMOS Rectifier Based on a Diode Connected CMOS
Transistor, The Scientific Would Journal, 2014, Vol. 2014, Article 963709, 11 p.
20. Enz C.C., Krummenacher F., Vittoz E.A. An Analytical MOS Transistor Model Valid in All Regions
of Operation and Dedicated to Low-Voltage and Low-Current Applications, Analog Integrated Circuits
and Signal Processing, 1995, No. 8, pp. 83-114.
21. Enz C.C., Vittoz E.A. Modeling for Low-Voltage and Low-Power Analog IC Design, Microelectronic
Engineering, 1997, Vol. 39, pp. 59-76.
22. Enz C.C., Vittoz E.A. Charge-based MOS Transistor Modeling. The EKV model for low-power and
RF IC design. London: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2006, 303 p.
23. Roy K., Mukhopadhyay S., Mahmoodi-Meimand H. Leakage Current Mechanisms and Leakage Reduction
Techniques in Deep-Submicrometer CMOS Circuits, Proceedings of the IEEE, 2003, Vol. 91,
No. 2, pp. 305-327.
24. Hu C., Niknejad A.M., Chauhan S.Y. BSIM4v4.8.2 MOSFET Model – User’s Manual. USA, CA,
Berkeley: University of California, 2020, 176 p.
25. Sicard E., Bendhia S.D. Basics of CMOS Cell Design. USA: McGraw-Hill, 2007, 429 p.
