Comparison of 5-bit Thermometer-to-Binary Decoders in 1.8V, 0.18µm CMOS Technology for Flash ADCs

Thermometer-to-binary decoders have become the bottleneck in Flash analog-to-digital converters. This paper describes five different 5-bit thermometer-to-binary decoders which are suitable for flash analog-to-digital converter in 1.8 V, 0.18 mum CMOS technology. Comparative study between these thermometer-to-binary decoders is done based on power consumption, count of transistors and delay. The combination of medium power, low transistor count, more regular structure and shorter critical path makes the multiplexer-based decoder is a viable option for efficient Flash ADC design.