A Cost-Effective 10-Bit D/A Converter for Digital-Input MOEMS Micromirror Actuation

The design of a 10-bit resistor-string digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for MOEMS micromirror interfacing is addressed in this paper. The proposed DAC, realized in a 0.18-μm BCD technology, features a folded resistor-string stage with a switch matrix and address decoders plus an output voltage buffer stage. The proposed DAC and buffer circuitry are key elements of an innovative scanning micromirror actuator, characterized by direct digital input, full differential driving, and linear response. With respect to the the state-of-the-art resistor-string converters in similar technologies, the proposed DAC has comparable nonlinearity (INL, DNL) performances while it has the advantage of a smaller area occupation, 0.17 mm2, including output buffer, and relatively low-power consumption, 200 μW at 500 kSPS and few μW in idle mode.