Effects of technology on digital-circuit design and performance at microwatt power levels

Digital-circuit-design considerations peculiar to microwatt power levels are described, the effect of device geometry and structure on propagation delay is discussed, and micropower arrays built to complete the project are described. Active device capacitances dominate transient response in microwatt gates when high-sheet-resistive, thin-film resistors are used (20 k/spl Omega///spl square/ SiCr). Active device area may or may not dominate chip size, depending on power level and resistor-sheet resistivity. For 5-/spl mu/W gates and 20-k/spl Omega///spl square/ resistors, active device areas have only a small effect on chip size.