A CMOS Phase-Shift oscillator Based on the conduction of Heat

A CMOS phase-shift oscillator that uses a phase shift in the conduction of heat is proposed. The oscillator consists of an inverting ampli ̄er and a feedback thermal ̄lter that are integrated on a silicon chip. The thermal ̄lter consists of a polysilicon heater and a MOSFET thermosensor separated from each other by a SiO2 heat-conducting layer. 1 An input signal for the ̄lter travels from the heater to the thermosensor through the SiO2layer in the form of heat. The ̄lter accepts the output of the inverting ampli ̄er, produces a phase shift due to the heat conduction, and returns a 180 -shifted feedback signal to the ampli ̄er. The oscillator produces oscillation at a speci ̄c frequency determined by the dimensions of the ̄lter and the thermal conductivity and speci ̄c heat of Si and SiO2.