A new current switch driver with improved dynamic performance used for 500MS/s, 12-bit Nyquist current-steering DAC

This paper presents a 12-bit 500MS/s DAC with a novel current switch driver. Compared to traditional low cross-point driver, the driver can generate a lower cross-point that is immune to process and temperature variation. Compared to traditional clock feedthrough compensation scheme, the driver compensates the clock feedthrough at the outputs without introducing additional frequency component across the whole Nyquist band. Chip was designed by using TSMC 0.18μm CMOS mixed model, the post-simulation results show that the DAC achieves a 76dB SFDR at 500MS/s and the Nyquist output frequency.