Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
(integrated circuit)(CMOS) A semiconductor fabrication
technology using a combination of n- and p-doped semiconductor
material to achieve low power dissipation. Any path through
a gate through which current can flow includes both n and
p type transistors. Only one type is turned on in any
stable state so there is no static power dissipation and
current only flows when a gate switches in order to charge the
parasitic capacitance.
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CMOS
(Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) Pronounced "c-moss." The most widely used integrated circuit fabrication for technology nodes down to 20 nm (see process technology). CMOS chips are found in almost every electronic product from handheld devices to mainframes. CMOS uses PMOS and NMOS transistors wired in a balanced fashion that causes less power to be used (for more details, see MOSFET). The first transistors were bipolar, which are still used when higher power is required. CMOS and bipolar are also used in combination. See FinFET, bipolar transistor and CMOS memory. |
| A Note From the Author |
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| In the early 1980s, my wife Irma and I had a kitten at the beach I named CMOS. When we introduced her to people, everyone thought "Sea Moss" was such a cute name for a beach cat. However, when we told them CMOS stood for "complementary metal oxide semiconductor," they didn't come around much any more! CMOS didn't last long, as I became quite allergic to her a few months later. |
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