A Wide Dynamic Range Buck Converter with Sub-nW Quiescent Power

Abstract

A buck converter in 65-nm CMOS is optimized for a low quiescent power of 240 pW. It operates with input 1.2-3.3 V and regulates the output from 0.7-0.9 V. Control circuits are designed for low leakage and static current, and scale in power over a hertz to megahertz frequency range, resulting in a wide load current dynamic range of 2× 10-6. With a 2-V input, the converter has a peak efficiency of 89% and delivers load currents of 500 pA to 1 mA with efficiency better than 50%. The peak efficiency is 92% for a 1.2-V input.