Measurement of thermal effects in monolithic voltage comparators
José Paulo Domingues, José Basílio Simões, Carlos M. B. A. Correia · Measurement Science and Technology · 1992
The monolithic voltage comparator is reviewed, focusing on behaviour in the pulsed (dynamic) mode of operation. Special attention is dedicated to the influence of short term history of the inputs on the thermal offset. A method is presented and discussed that reveals and quantifies the thermal offset, with 25 mu V resolution, by measuring a hysteresis introduced on the comparator dynamic transition curve. It is shown that the deviation in comparator output due to thermal imbalance of the input differential pair, can significantly affect the response of a 16 bit ADC (2 or 3 least significant bits in a 10 V input range).