Introduction to CMOS
Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
CSET 4650 Field Programmable Logic Devices
Dan Solarek
CMOS Technology
Complementary MOS, or CMOS, needs both PMOS and NMOS FET devices for their logic gates to be realized The concept of CMOS was introduced in 1963 by Frank Wanlass and Chi-Tang Sah of Fairchild
did not become common until the 1980s as NMOS microprocessors were dissipating as much as 50W and alternative design techniques were needed
CMOS still dominates digital IC design today
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MOSFET Transistors
Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) are the transistors most widely used in integrated circuits today The name is due to:
the structure of the device - a sandwich of a metal conductor, an oxide insulator, and a semiconductor substrate the way it works - an electric field controls the flow of current through the device
Although early MOSFET transistors used metal for the first layer, current ones use a polysilicon material
a conductive material with somewhat more resistance than a normal conductor and is easier to fabricate
N-Channel MOSFET Transistors
With no voltage between the gate terminal and the substrate, there are two junctions between the two N regions and the P region. This acts like two oppositely connected diodes, and no current can flow between source and drain.
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N-Channel MOSFET Transistors
Application of a positive voltage between the gate terminal and the substrate creates an electric field that drives holes out of the region under the gate, creating a channel of N-type material that connects the source and drain terminals Current is due to electron movement in the N-channel
P-Channel MOSFIT Transistors
The P and N regions are reversed from the N-Channel device. Application of a voltage on the gate terminal that is negative relative to the substrate creates a P channel beneath the gate and charge flow is due to hole movement.
MOSFET Circuit Symbols
The following symbols are used to represent MOSFET transistors in circuit diagrams:
normally on
normally off
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MOSFET Circuit Symbols
The following simplified symbols are used to represent MOSFET transistors in most CMOS circuit diagrams:
negative voltage
MOSFET Circuit Symbols
The gate of a MOS transistor controls the flow of the current between the drain and the source. The MOS transistor can be viewed as a simple ON/OFF switch.
MOSFET Circuit Symbols
Series behavior of MOS transistors
nMOS: 1 = ON pMOS: 0 = ON Series: both must be ON
nMOS
pMOS
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MOSFET Circuit Symbols
Parallel behavior of MOS transistors
nMOS: 1 = ON pMOS: 0 = ON Parallel: either can be ON
nMOS
pMOS
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Complementary MOSFETS (CMOS)
N-Channel and P-Channel transistors can be fabricated on the same substrate as shown below
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CMOS Logic Families
CMOS Series
Original CMOS Pin compatible with TTL High-speed and pin compatible with TTL High-speed and electrically compatible with TTL Very High-speed and pin compatible with TTL Very High-speed and electrically compatible with TTL Advanced High-speed and pin compatible with TTL Advanced High-speed and electrically compatible with TTL Fast and electrically compatible with TTL Fast and electrically compatible with TTL with TTL VOH
Prefix
40 74C 74HC 74HCT 74VHC 74VHCT 74AHC 74AHCT 74FCT 74FCT-T
Example
4009 74H04 74HC04 74HCT04 74VHC04 74VHCT04 74AHC04 74AHCT04 74 FCT 04 74 FCT04T
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CMOS Logic Families
74-series (commercial) parts are designed for temperatures between 0C and 70C 54-series (military) parts are designed for operation between -55C and 125C the 00 NAND gate is the smallest logicdesign building block in each family the 138 is a MSI part (~15 NAND gates)
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CMOS Logic Families
These specs assume that the 5 Volt supply has a 10% margin; that is, VCC can be anywhere between 4.5 and 5.5 V.
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CMOS Logic Families
Specifications for TTL-compatible CMOS outputs have two sets of output parameters; only one set is used depending on how an output is loaded.
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CMOS Logic Families
A CMOS load is one that requires the output to sink and source very little DC current
20 A for HC/HCT 50 A for VHC/VHCT
A TTL load can consume much more sink and source current
up to 4 mA from and HC/HCT output 8 mA from a VHC/VHCT output
CMOS outputs maintain an output voltage within 0.1V of the supply rails, 0 and VCC.
a worst-case VCC=4.5V is used for the table; hence, VOHminC=4.4V
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Comparison of Logic Levels
(a) 5-V CMOS; (b) 5-V TTL, including 5-V TTL-compatible CMOS; (c) 3.3-V LVTTL; (d) 2.5-V CMOS; (e) 1.8-V CMOS
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Properties of NMOS and CMOS Logic Gates
No current flows through the gate unless the input signal is changing
High input impedance High fan-out
Sandwich structure of MOS transistor creates capacitor between the gate and substrate
High input capacitance Slows transition time Limits fan-out or switching speed
NMOS dissipates power in low output state CMOS gate only dissipates power when it is changing state
The faster a CMOS gate switches the more power it dissipates, so there is a tradeoff between speed and power 19
Why CMOS is Better
Low DC Power Consumption Abrupt & well defined Voltage transfer Characteristic Noise Immunity due to Low impedance between logic levels and Supply/Gnd. Symmetry between Tfall & Trise High Density: Si real estate Yield Cost Highly Integrated Active & High input Impedance Composition equality No real trade off between the above
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Static vs Dynamic CMOS Design
Static
Each gate output have a low resistive path to either VDD or GND
Dynamic
Relies on storage of signal the value in a capacitance requires high impedance nodes
We will only worry about static design today.
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NMOS Logic
Negative charge carriers (electrons) Positive biasing voltage at gate
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CMOS Logic
Transistors come in complementary pairs
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CMOS Inverter
CMOS gates are built around the technology of the basic CMOS inverter:
Vdd PMOS
in
in out
out
NMOS
Symbol Circuit 24
Basic CMOS Logic Technology
Based on the fundamental inverter circuit at right Transistors (two) are enhancement mode MOSFETs
N-Channel with its source grounded P-Channel with its source connected to +V
in d g NMOS s Vdd s PMOS d out
Input: gates connected together Output: drains connected
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CMOS Inverter - Operation
When input A is grounded (logic 0), the N-Channel MOSFET is unbiased, and therefore has no channel enhanced within itself. It is an open circuit, and therefore leaves the output line disconnected from ground. At the same time, the P-Channel MOSFET is forward biased, so it has a channel enhanced within itself, connecting the output line to the +VDD supply. This pulls the output up to +VDD (logic 1).
VDD
Charge
A
Open
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CMOS Inverter - Operation
When input A is at +VDD (logic 1), the P-channel MOSFET is off and the N-channel MOSFET is on, thus pulling the output down to ground (logic 0). Thus, this circuit correctly performs logic inversion, and at the same time provides active pull-up and pull-down, according to the output state.
VDD
VDD Open Out
A
Discharge
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CMOS Inverter - Operation
Vout
Since the gate is essentially an open circuit it draws no current, and the output voltage will be equal to either ground or to the power supply voltage, depending on which transistor is conducting.
VDD
VDD
Vin
indeterminant range
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CMOS Inverter A Switch Model
a) b) c)
Circuit schematic for a CMOS inverter Simplified operation model with a high input applied Simplified operation model with a low input applied 29
Static Characteristics of the CMOS Inverter Switch Model
The figure shows the two modes of static operation with the circuit and simplified models
Logic 1 (a) and (b) Logic 0 (c) and (d)
Notice that VH = 5V and VL = 0V, and that ID = 0A which means that there is no static power dissipation
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CMOS Inverter Operation
Summarizing:
When vI is pulled high (VDD), the PMOS inverter is turned off, while the NMOS is turned on pulling the output down to GND When vI is pulled low (GND), the NMOS inverter is turned off, while the PMOS is turned on pulling the output up to VDD
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Propagation Delay Estimate
The two modes of capacitive discharging and charging that contribute to propagation delay
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Fan-Out in CMOS Circuits
While the fan-out of CMOS gates is affected by current limits, the fan-out of CMOS gates driving CMOS gates is enormous since the input currents of CMOS gates is very low.
Why are the input currents low?
On the other hand the high capacitance of CMOS gate inputs means that the capacitive load on a gate driving CMOS gates increases with fan-out.
This increased capacitance limits switching speeds and is a far more significant limit on the maximum fan-out.
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Complementary CMOS
Complementary CMOS logic gates
pMOS pull-up network nMOS pull-down network a.k.a. static CMOS
pMOS pull-up network
inputs output
nMOS pull-down network
Pull-up OFF Pull-down OFF Z (float) Pull-down ON 0
Pull-up ON 1 X (crowbar)
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Complementary CMOS
To build a logic gate we need to build two switch networks:
PUN
PDN
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Conduction Complement
Complementary CMOS gates always produce 0 or 1 Ex: NAND gate
Series nMOS: Y=0 when both inputs are 1 Thus Y=1 when either input is 0 A Requires parallel pMOS
B Y
Rule of Conduction Complements
Pull-up network is complement of pull-down parallel series, series parallel
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CMOS Gate Design
Work out the values for both the push and pull networks Compare them What is the result?
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CMOS Gate Design
A 2-input CMOS NAND gate
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CMOS Gate Design
Work out the values for both the push and pull networks Compare them What is the result?
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CMOS Gate Design
A 2-input CMOS NOR gate
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CMOS Gate Design
A 4-input CMOS NOR gate
A B C D Y
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NAND and NOR are Popular
Logical inversion comes free
as a result an inverting gate needs smaller number of transistors compared to the non-inverting one
In CMOS (and in most other logic families)
the simples gates are inverters the next simplest are NAND and NOR gates
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Compound Gates
Lets take a look at a gate that implements a more complex function
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Compound Gates
Compound gates can do any inverting function Ex: Y = A B +C D
A B (a) C D A B (b) C A (d) D B Y A B (e) C D (f) A B C D Y D B C D
A (c) C A
B C
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Example: O3AI
Y = ( A + B + C) D
A B C D Y D A B C
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