Nano Devices for Comparator Designs

Comparators are essential building blocks in analog and mixed-signal electronic circuits, used for a wide range of applications such as analog-to-digital converters, data transmission systems, and sensing circuits. Traditional comparator designs based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology face challenges in achieving high speed, low power consumption, and high integration density. Nano devices in comparator design can operate at low voltages, which is particularly beneficial for low-power applications. And they have unique physical properties at the nanoscale, offering promising alternatives for designing high-performance comparators. This chapter explores the potential of emerging nano devices, including carbon nanotubes, graphene, and tunnel field-effect transistors, for developing comparator circuits with improved characteristics. Design considerations with experimental demonstrations highlighting the advantages and challenges of incorporating nano devices into comparator designs is covered in this chapter. The impact on performance metrics such as propagation delay, power dissipation, and device scaling are discussed.