Out of curiosity, is there any downside to using LVT devices compared to standard devices? From an analog POV, I only see benefits from LVT devices: lower threshold -> lower overdrive -> better swing.

LVT = higher static current = higher static power

@Tim Edwards thanks for the help! I suppose that means I shouldn’t use LVT devices as current mirrors (leakage -> bad Ro).

The issue is that when leakage is multiplied by a million transistors in a full-chip digital block, for each digital CMOS pair, one of the transistors has Vds = Vdd, and while the transistor is "off" it still leaks some current, and the lower the threshold voltage, the higher the (Vgs - Vth), so the leakage current goes up. In the current mirror, the circuit is active. There isn't any "leakage" other than the tiny amount going into well or substrate. So the low threshold device serves the purpose of getting you to a higher current with a much lower voltage overhead, which is usually a good thing.

@Tim Edwards so can we say that for (active) analog it's always better to use lvt? I was aware of the extra process step (and thus cost ) this could imply, but in sky130 it's included anyways. Plus the lvt model seems to be have better in subthreshold, no?