A CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) voltage tripler is an electronic circuit that is used to generate a higher DC voltage from a lower DC voltage. It is often used in various electronic devices and applications where higher voltage levels are required, such as in power supplies, voltage regulators, and other analog circuitry.
The function of a CMOS voltage tripler is to take an input voltage (usually a lower DC voltage) and produce an output voltage that is approximately three times the input voltage. This is achieved through a series of charge-pumping stages that are based on the principles of capacitive coupling and voltage multiplication.
Here's a basic overview of how a CMOS voltage tripler works:
Charge Pumping: The CMOS voltage tripler consists of a series of capacitors, diodes, and switching transistors. These components work together to pump charge from the input voltage source into a series of capacitors.
Voltage Multiplication: The capacitors are charged and discharged in a specific sequence using the switching transistors. The diodes ensure that the charge is accumulated on the capacitors in a way that results in voltage multiplication.
Voltage Output: As the capacitors accumulate charge and discharge in a cascaded manner, the voltage across the capacitors adds up, resulting in an output voltage that is approximately three times the input voltage.
It's important to note that the voltage multiplication factor (in this case, tripling) depends on the specific circuit design and the number of stages used in the voltage tripler. However, practical implementations may have some losses and limitations due to factors such as component tolerances, leakage currents, and other non-ideal behaviors.
CMOS voltage triplers are often used in situations where a relatively low-current, higher voltage supply is required, and they offer the advantage of being implemented using CMOS technology, which is widely used in integrated circuits.