What is CMOS?

A circuit style that combines nMOS and pMOS transistors in a complementary way. Almost no current flows through it in steady state, so power consumption is low.

CMOS inverter VDD pMOS Out nMOS GND In When the input is 0 pMOS on, nMOS off → output 1 When the input is 1 pMOS off, nMOS on → output 0 One of them is always off, so little current flows from VDD to GND

Field: MOSFET

CMOS in the explanations

Questions that mention CMOS (43)

  1. Which pairing of a technology that integrates bipolar transistors and CMOS on the same chip with its purpose is correct?
  2. Why is the static (steady-state) power consumption of a CMOS inverter small?
  3. Which design makes the logic threshold of a CMOS inverter about half the supply voltage?
  4. Which expression roughly represents the delay of a CMOS logic gate? (C: load capacitance, V: supply voltage, I: drive current)
  5. How are the transistors connected in a CMOS two-input NAND gate?
  6. What does the "C" (complementary) in CMOS mean?
  7. In a CMOS inverter, what is the current that flows from the supply to ground while the input is switching called?
  8. In 3D NAND, what is the main advantage of placing peripheral circuits such as sense amplifiers beneath the memory array (CMOS under Array and similar)?
  9. Which ferroelectric material, compatible with CMOS processes, has recently attracted attention for FeRAM and ferroelectric transistors (FeFETs)?
  10. In a CMOS circuit, if only the supply voltage is halved with everything else unchanged, what happens to dynamic power consumption?
  11. Compared with CCD image sensors, which is a general advantage of CMOS image sensors?
  12. Why do fast-moving subjects appear distorted with the rolling shutter method of CMOS image sensors?
  13. What is the main advantage of the scheme used in many CMOS image sensors in which each pixel column has its own AD converter for parallel conversion?
  14. Which is one reason it is difficult to build silicon-like CMOS circuits in GaAs?
  15. Which crystal orientation is commonly used for silicon wafers for CMOS LSIs?

Related terms

Mobility SiGe (silicon-germanium) Latch-up 3D NAND FeRAM (ferroelectric RAM) GaAs (gallium arsenide) GAA (gate-all-around) ALD DVFS (dynamic voltage and frequency scaling) Rolling shutter

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