Design of Ultra-Low Power FinFET Charge Pumps for Energy Harvesting Systems

Abstract

This work introduces an ultra-low-voltage charge pump for energy harvesters in biosensors. The unique aspect of the proposed charge pump is its two-level design, where the first stage elevates the voltage to a specific level, and the output voltage of this stage becomes the input voltage of the second stage. Using two levels reduces the number of stages in a charge pump and improves efficiency to get a higher voltage gain. In our measurements, this charge pump design could convert a low 85mV input voltage to a substantial 608.2mV output voltage, approximately 7.15 times the input voltage, while maintaining a load resistance of 7MΩ and a 29.5% conversion efficiency.