"Design, Simulation and Testing of MOSIS Fabricated CMOS Operational Amplifiers for Class Projects in an Analog I.C. Design Course"

The paper describes use of MOSIS fabricated CMOS Operational Amplifiers as a real world design experience in senior level Analog Integrated Circuit Courses in Electrical Engineering.In the one-semester course on CMOS Analog I.C.Design offered at our department, design of a CMOS Operational Amplifier is required as a term project.Students are given a set of minimum specifications and are required to apply the learning they had into the design of a NMOS-input Operational Amplifier that can be implemented in an Nwell CMOS process.The specifications include open loop gain, gain-bandwidth product, phase margin, common-mode rejection range, slew rate and output swing on a specified load including capacitive loading.The requirements are (1) to create a Mathematica file of their design calculations, (2) verify the design with appropriate SPICE simulations, (3) create a layout design that passes all design rules, and (4) write a report and do a Powerpoint presentation to the class at the end.Projects that pass the design specifications and layout rules can be sent out to be fabricated.However, typical turn-around times do not allow the graduating class to have a chance to test and verify their design, and get the satisfaction and the real world experience of testing.By using MOSIS fabricated designs of previous generations, this missing link was completed.