Key Responsibilities:
1. Circuit Architecture & Design.
- Design high-speed (>100MS/s) Successive Approximation Register (SAR) ADCs for applications like 5G, radar, and data converters.
- Optimize critical blocks: capacitor DAC arrays, high-speed comparators, bootstrapped switches, and digital control logic.
- Achieve target specifications: ENOB (Effective Number of Bits), SFDR (Spurious-Free Dynamic Range), power efficiency (FOM < 10 fJ/step).
2. Performance Optimization.
- Mitigate nonlinearity via capacitor matching techniques (common-centroid, dummy units).
- Reduce kickback noise, clock jitter, and metastability in comparators.
- Develop calibration algorithms (e.g., background LMS for capacitor mismatch).
3. Process & Technology Integration.
- Implement designs in advanced nodes (FinFET 7nm/5nm, 28nm CMOS).
- Model parasitics, device mismatch, and PVT (Process-Voltage-Temperature) variations.
- Collaborate with layout teams on matched routing, shielding, and EM/IR reliability.
4. Validation & Testing.
- Develop test plans for lab characterization (e.g., using high-speed oscilloscopes, BERTs).
- Perform post-silicon validation: INL/DNL, dynamic performance, jitter tolerance.
- Support ATE (Automated Test Equipment) program development for production.
5. Cross-Functional Collaboration.
- Work with systems team on ADC integration (e.g., in RF transceivers or SoCs).
- Document design specs, simulation reports, and silicon performance.
Required Qualifications:
1. With more than 8 years relevant experience in similar field in semiconductor industry.
2. Technical Skills:
- Proficiency in EDA tools: Cadence Virtuoso, Spectre, HSPICE, MATLAB/Python for modeling.
- Deep understanding of ADC fundamentals: sampling theory, quantization noise, metastability.
- Experience with high-speed challenges: clock distribution, comparator offset cancellation, charge injection.
- Familiarity with mixed-signal verification (AMS, Verilog-A).
3. Preferred Expertise:
- Tape-out experience with SAR ADCs >500MS/s (e.g., 8–12 bits).
- Knowledge of hybrid architectures (e.g., SAR-assisted pipelined, time-interleaved SAR).
- Scripting for automation (Python, Tcl).