A 2x Time-Interleaved 28-GS/s 8-Bit 0.03-mm² Switched-Capacitor DAC in 16-nm FinFET CMOS

This article presents a compact 2x time-interleaved switched-capacitor (SC) digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for digital-intensive transmitter architectures. To minimize area and to leverage the strengths of FinFET technology, the implementation departs from the traditional current steering approach and consists mainly of inverters and sub-femtofarad SCs. The DAC's architecture is based on parallel charge redistribution and separates level generation, pulse timing, and output power generation. The described 28-GS/s 8-bit prototype design occupies 0.03 mm² in 16-nm CMOS and supports up to 0.32-Vpp signal swing across its differential 100-Ω load. It achieves an SFDR ≥37 dB and an IM3 ≤-45.6 dBc across the first Nyquist zone while consuming 88 mW from a single 0.8-V supply.