A standard CMOS high-voltage transmitter for ultrasound medical imaging applications

Abstract

A high-voltage (HV) transmitter for ultrasound medical imaging applications is designed using 0.18-µm CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) technology. The proposed HV transmitter achieves high integration by employing standard CMOS transistors in a stacked configuration with dynamic gate biasing circuit while successfully driving the capacitive output load with an HV pulse without device breakdown reliability issues. The HV transmitter, which includes the output driver and voltage level-shifters, generates up to 30-Vp-p pulses at 1.25 MHz frequency and occupies 0.035 mm² of layout area.

Keywords:

• ultrasound
• transmitter
• high voltage
• output driver
• level-shifter

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (grant number 2012R1A1A1040958).