Characterization of Noise in CMOS Ring Oscillators at Cryogenic Temperatures
Prashansa Mukim, Pragya R. Shrestha, Advait Madhavan, Nitin Prasad, J. P. Campbell, Forrest Brewer, M. D. Stiles, Jabez J. McClelland
Abstract
Allan deviation provides a means to characterize the time-dependence of noise in oscillators and potentially identify the source characteristics. Measurements on a 130 nm, 7-stage ring oscillator show that the Allan deviation declines from 300 K to 150 K as expected, but surprisingly increases from 150 K to 11 K. At low temperatures, the measured Allan deviation can be well fit using a few random telegraph noise (RTN) sources over the range of a few kilohertz to a few gigahertz. Further, the RTN characteristics evolve to reveal an enhanced role in low-frequency noise at lower temperatures.
Topics & Concepts
Allan varianceNoise (video)Ring oscillatorPhase noiseStandard deviationCharacterization (materials science)CMOSPhysicsJohnson–Nyquist noiseRing (chemistry)Electrical engineeringMaterials scienceOptoelectronicsVoltageEngineeringComputer scienceMathematicsOpticsChemistryStatisticsImage (mathematics)Organic chemistryArtificial intelligenceAdvancements in PLL and VCO TechnologiesRadio Frequency Integrated Circuit DesignAdvanced Electrical Measurement Techniques