A digitally-assisted electrothermal frequency-locked loop

Abstract

A digitally-assisted electrothermal frequency-locked loop (FLL) is presented, whose output frequency is determined by the temperature-dependent thermal diffusivity of bulk silicon. In contrast to previous work, its noise bandwidth is defined by a digital, rather than an analog, filter. This obviates the need for external capacitors, thus enabling full CMOS integration. Without trimming, an implementation in a 0.7µm CMOS process achieves an output frequency spread of about ±0.3% (3σ) from −55 °C to 125 °C. This corresponds to a temperature sensing inaccuracy of about ±0.7 °C (3σ).