Term of the Moment
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Definition: MOSFET
(Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) The most popular type of transistor. In fact, more MOSFET transistors have been created than anything else in all of human history. MOSFETs are fabricated as a "discrete" transistor packaged individually for high power applications as well as chips with billions of transistors. In the 2010s, FinFETs became the latest MOSFET technology for nodes around 20 nanometers (see FinFET). See chip.
The MO and FE in MOSFET
The metal oxide (MO) refers to the metal gate over silicon dioxide. Although poly-crystalline silicon replaced silicon dioxide, MOS was not renamed. The field effect (FE) is the electromagnetic field generated when the gate is energized, causing the transistor to turn on or off.
NMOS and PMOS Became CMOS
MOSFETs come in negative and positive channel varieties, and when wired together, they become a complementary MOS (CMOS) gate, which uses almost no power until the transistors switch. CMOS is the most widely used type of integrated circuit (for MOSFET evolution, see planar transistor and CFET). See power MOSFET, n-type silicon, bipolar transistor and FET.
NMOS and PMOS Transistors
The MO and FE in MOSFET
The metal oxide (MO) refers to the metal gate over silicon dioxide. Although poly-crystalline silicon replaced silicon dioxide, MOS was not renamed. The field effect (FE) is the electromagnetic field generated when the gate is energized, causing the transistor to turn on or off.
NMOS and PMOS Became CMOS
MOSFETs come in negative and positive channel varieties, and when wired together, they become a complementary MOS (CMOS) gate, which uses almost no power until the transistors switch. CMOS is the most widely used type of integrated circuit (for MOSFET evolution, see planar transistor and CFET). See power MOSFET, n-type silicon, bipolar transistor and FET.
When voltage is applied to the gate in a MOSFET transistor, it creates a "field" with the opposite charge. In an NMOS transistor, holes are repulsed in the p-type silicon forming a conductive n-type channel, and current flows from source to drain. With PMOS, the opposite occurs, and voltage on the gate impedes the current flow. NMOS transistors switch faster than PMOS, but PMOS is more immune to noise. For more details, see n-type silicon.