Low voltage and high driving charge pump

摘要

The present disclosure relates to a charge pump circuit having one or more voltage multiplier circuits that enable generation of an output signal having a higher output voltage. In one embodiment, the charge pump circuit comprises a NMOS transistor having a drain connected to a supply voltage and a source connected to a chain of diode connected NMOS transistors coupled in series. A first voltage multiplier circuit is configured to generate a first two-phase output signal having a maximum voltage value that is twice the supply voltage. The first two-phase output signal is applied to the gate of the NMOS transistor, forming a conductive channel between the drain and the source, thereby allowing the supply voltage to pass through the NMOS transistor without a threshold voltage drop. Therefore, degradation of the charge pump output voltage due to voltage drops of the NMOS transistor is reduced, resulting in larger output voltages.

主权项

1. A method of operating a charge pump circuit, comprising:
providing a plurality of diode devices in series, such that a first diode device is coupled to a second diode device; providing a first two-phase output signal from an output of a first voltage multiplier circuit to a gate of a transistor, which has a source connected to a voltage source configured to provide a supply voltage and a drain connected to the first diode device; providing an inverted version of an input clock signal to a first input of a second voltage multiplier circuit configured to generate a second two-phase output signal; and providing the first two-phase output signal to a second input of the second voltage multiplier circuit.