A Compact Low Voltage CMOS Current Mirror with High Output Resistance

This paper reviews the CMOS implementations of low voltage current mirror, and proposes a new approach. The proposed current mirror features simple structure but achieves both low output compliance voltage and high output resistance. This invention is built both in a 180 nm CMOS process with a supply of 1.8 V and in a 45 nm CMOS process with a supply of 1 V. In former design, two realizations of the proposed CM are investigated, and achieves an output compliance voltage of 80 mV, and 135 mV, respectively. With the same criterion of 1 MΩ output-resistance at targeted output-current of 10 μA, the proposed CM in 45 nm CMOS process specifies an output compliance voltage of 148 mV.