A sub-1 v nanopower temperature-compensated sub-threshold CMOS voltage reference with 0.065%/V line sensitivity

We present the design of a nanopower sub-threshold CMOS voltage reference and the measurements performed over a set of more than 70 samples fabricated in 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The circuit provides a temperature-compensated reference voltage of 259 mV with an extremely low line sensitivity of only 0.065% at the price of a less effective temperature compensation. The voltage reference properly works with a supply voltage down to 0.6 V and with a power dissipation of only 22.3 nW. Very similar performance has been obtained with and without the inclusion of the start-up circuit.