A Low-power High-precision Differential Output 13bit R-2R DAC Pathway in 180nm CMOS

A 13bit R-2R DAC pathway is implemented in 180nm CMOS. This pathway transforms single-ended digital control words into positive and negative analog voltage outputs, with the capability to alter the polarity of the differential output voltages. The R-2R DAC circuit serves as the core component in the DAC pathway, exhibiting integral nonlinearity errors (INL) and differential nonlinearity errors (DNL) of 0.575 LSB and 0.34 LSB, respectively. It achieves an Effective Number of Bits (ENOB) of 12.87 bits, a Spurious-Free Dynamic Range (SFDR) of 87.39 dB, and a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of -84.47 dB. This DAC pathway is characterized by low power consumption of 0.722 mW and high output voltage accuracy, achieving output voltage error of 1.5%.