A 60 dB gain range programmable gain current amplifier for ultrasound sensing

This article presents a programmable gain current amplifier (CA) for ultrasound sensing applications. The design proposed consists of a current divider and a close-loop current amplifier. The CA utilizes switches to adjust the resistance of the shunt resistors and feedback resistors to achieve variable gain, thus realizing the time gain compensation (TGC) function. The proposed CA implemented in 180-nm BCD technology occupies an active area of 0.059 mm2. Measurement results show that the CA achieves a maximum gain of 36.6 dB and a gain range of 60 dB. The average input-referred noise spectral density is 0.32 pA/√Hz at maximum gain condition while consuming a power of 1.07 mW.