Fet
Fet
Fet
To see the operation of a NMOS, lets ground the source and the body and apply a voltage
vGS between the gate and the source, as is shown above. This voltage repels the holes in
the p-type substrate near the gate region, lowering the concentration of the holes. As v GS
increases, hole concentration decreases, and the region near gate behaves progressively more
like intrinsic semiconductor material (excess hole concentration zero) and then, finally, like
Direction of arrows used to identify semiconductor types in a transistor may appear con-
fusing. The arrows do NOT represent the direction of current flow in the device. Rather,
they denote the direction of the underlying pn junction. For a NMOS, the arrow is placed
on the body and pointing inward as the body is made of p-type material. (Arrow is not
on source or drain as they are interchangeable.) In the simplified symbol for the case when
body and source is connected, arrow is on the source (device is not symmetric now) and is
pointing outward as the source is made of n-type materials. (i.,e. arrow pointing inward for
p-type, arrow pointing outward for n-type).
vDS 1
rDS =
iD 2K(vGS Vt )
Since vDS = 8 > vGS Vt = 2, NMOS is indeed in active region and iD = 4 mA and
vo = vDS = 8 V.
C) vi = 12 V. From GS KVL, we get vGS = 12 V. Since vGS > Vt , NMOS is not in
cut-off. Assume NMOS in active region. Then:
2 2
iD = K[2vDS (vGS Vt ) vDS ] = 0.25 103 [2vDS (12 2) vDS ]
2
iD = 0.25 103 [20vDS vDS ]
12 2.2
DS KVL: vDS = VDD RD iD iD = = 9.8 mA
1, 000
Load Line: Operation of NMOS circuits can be better understood using the concept of
load line. Similar to BJT, load line is basically the line representing DS KVL in iD versus
vDS space. Load line of the example circuit is shown here.
Exercise: Mark the Q-points of the previous example for vi = 0, 6, and 12 V on the load
line figure below.
Body Effect
In deriving NMOS (and other MOS) iD versus vDS characteristics, we had assumed that
the body and source are connected. This is not possible in an integrated chip which has
a common body and a large number of MOS devices (connection of body to source for all
devices means that all sources are connected). The common practice is to attach the body
of the chip to the smallest voltage available from the power supply (zero or negative). In
this case, the pn junction between the body and source of all devices will be reversed biased.
The impact of this to lower threshold voltage for the MOS devices slightly and its called the
body effect. Body effect can degrade device performance. For analysis here, we will assume
that body effect is negligible.
iD2
vi D2
vo
D1 iD1
G1
S1
D D
G B G B
S S
D D D D
iD iD iD iD
G G G G
S S S S
n-type Depletion MOSFET p-type Depletion MOSFET
There are some important difference between NMOS and BJT inverter gates. First, BJT
needs a resistor RB . This resistor converts the input voltages into an iB and keep vBE v .
NMOS does not need a resistor between the source and the input voltage as iG = 0 and
vi = vGS can be directly applied to the gate. Second, if the input voltage is high, the BJT
will go into saturation with vo = vCE = Vsat = 0.2 V. In the NMOS gate, if the input voltage
is high, NMOS is in the ohmic region. In this case, vDS can have any value between 0 and
vGS ; the value of vo = vDS is set by the value of the resistor RD . This effect is shown in the
transfer function of the inverter gate for two different values of RD .
Exercise: Compute vo for the above circuit with VDD = 12 and RD = 10 k when vi = 12 V.
S2
G2
iD2
vi D2
vo
D1 iD1
G1
S1
The maximum value of iD that flows through the gate during the transition can be easily
calculated as this maximum current flows when vi = 0.5VDD and vO = 0.5VDD .
For example, consider the CMOS inverter with VDD = 12 V, Vt = 2 V, and K = 0.25 mA/V2 .
Maximum iD flows when vi = vGS1 = 0.5VDD = 6 V. At this point, vDS1 = vo = 0.5VDD =
6 V. As, vDS1 = 6 > vGS1 vt = 4 V, NMOS is in active regime. Then:
Our analysis will become simpler if we first consider the following case:
When v1 = 0, then vGS1 = 0 and M1 will be off leading to iD1 = iD2 = 0. By KCL,
iD3 + iD4 = 0. As both iD3 0 and iD4 0, we should have iD3 = iD4 = 0. In addition,
when v1 = 0 vGS3 = v1 VDD = VDD < Vt . Therefore, M3 will be ON. But since iD3 = 0,
M3 should be in the ohmic regime and vDS3 = 0. Then, vo = VDD vDS3 = VDD . So, when
v1 = 0, vo = VDD , all currents are zero, M1 is OFF, and M3 is ON. State of the other two
transistor will depend on v2 .
1) v1 = 0, v2 = 0 When v1 = 0, vo = VDD , all currents are zero, M1 is OFF, and M3
is ON. To find the status of M4 , we note vGS4 = v2 VDD = VDD < Vt . Thus, M4
is ON (with vDS4 = 0 because iD4 = 0). To find the status of M2 , lets assume M2 is
ON (vGS2 > Vt ). Then, vDS2 = 0 because iD2 = 0. Since, vo = vDS1 + vDS2 = VDD ,
vDS1 = VDD vDS2 = VDD . Then, vGS2 = v2 vDS1 = VDD < Vt . So, our assumption of
M2 ON is incorrect and M2 is OFF.
So, when v1 = 0, v2 = 0, M1 is OFF, M2 is OFF, M3 is ON, and M4 is ON, all currents are
zero, and vo = VDD .
2) v1 = 0, v2 = VDD When v1 = 0, vo = VDD , all currents are zero, M1 is OFF, and M3
is ON. To find the status of M4 , we note vGS4 = v2 VDD = 0 > Vt . So, M4 is OFF. To find
the status of M2 , lets assume M2 is ON (vGS2 > Vt ). Then, vDS2 = 0 because iD2 = 0. Since,
vo = vDS1 + vDS2 = VDD , vDS1 = VDD vDS2 = VDD . Then, vGS2 = v2 vDS1 = VDD < Vt .
So, our assumption of M2 ON is incorrect and M2 is OFF.
So, when v1 = 0, v2 = VDD , M1 is OFF, M2 is OFF, M3 is ON, and M4 is OFF, all currents
are zero, and vo = VDD .
VDD
Exercise: Show that this is a NOR gate. M4
v2 iD4
M3
iD3 vo
v1 iD1 iD2
M2
M1