cay:E:-/?

-3

425

//'(/: .::e 61d.

5.8 THE CMOS DIGITAL LOGIC INVERTER

__j

Complementary MOS or CMOS logic circuits have been available as standard packages for
use in conventional digital system design since the early 1970s. Such packages contain logic
gates and other digital system building blocks with the number of gates per package ranging
from a few (small-scale integrated or SSI circuits) to few tens (medium-scale integrated or
MSI circuits).
In the late 1970s, as the era of large- and very-large-scale integration (LSI and VLSI;
hundreds to hundreds of thousands of gates per chip) began, NMOS became the fabrication
technology of choice. Indeed, early VLSI circuits such as the early microprocessors employed NMOS technology. Such circuits utilized the enhancement-load, and later the depletion-load, amplifier as the basic inverter configuration. Although at thaUime the design
flexibility and other advantages that CMOS offers were known, the CMOS technology then
was too complex to produce these high-density VLSI chips economically. However, as
advances in processing technology were made, this state of affaifs changed radically. At the
time of this writing, CMOS technology has virtually replaced NMOS at all levels of integration, in both analog and digital applications.
For any IC technology used in digital circuit design, the basic circuit element is the
logic inverter. Once the operation and characteristics of, the inverter circuit are thoroughly
understood, the results can be extended to the design of logic gates and other more complex
circuits. In this section, we provide such a study for the CMOS inverter.
The basic CMOS inverter is shown in Fig. 5.55. It utilizes two matched enhancementtype MOSFETs: one, QN, with an n channel and the other, Qp, with a p channel. As
indicated, the body of each device is connected to its' source and thus no body effect arises.
We shall therefore use the simplified circuit schematic diagram shown in Fig. 5.55(b). As
will be seen shortly, the CMOS circuit realizes the conceptual inverter implementation
studied in Chapter 1 (Fig. 1.32) where a pair of switches are operated in a complementary
fashion by the input voltage v1.

426

FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS (FETs)

v, ,,_____

v,,~J----e

(a)

Fig. 5.55

(b)

(a) The CMOS inverter.

(b) Simplified circuit schematic for the inverter.

Circuit Operation
We first consider the two extreme cases: when VJ is at logic-0 level, which is approximately
0 V, and when VJ is at logic-I level, which is approximately VDD volts. In both cases, we
shall consider the n-channel device QN to be the driving transistor and the p-channel device
Qp to be the load. However, since the circuit is completely symmetric, this assumption is
obviously arbitrary, and the reverse would lead to identical results.
Figure 5.56 illustrates the case when VJ = VDD' showing the iD-VDs characteristic curve
for QN with VcsN = VDD (Note that iD = i and VDsN = v 0 ). Superimposed on the QN

+
VscP

=0

Load curve
(vscP = 0)

(a)

-----{) vo === 0

O VoL = 0
(b)

.(c)

Fig. 5.56 Operation of the CMOS inverter when VJ is high: (a) circuit with VJ = VDD (logic-1
level, or VoH); (b) graphical construction to determine the operating point; and (c) equivalent
circuit.

5.8

THE CMOS DIGITAL LOGIC INVERTER

427

characteristic curve is the load curve, which is the io-VSD curve of Qp for the case
vscP = 0 V. Since vscP < !Vt/, the load curve will be a horizontal straight line at almost
zero current level. The operating point will be at the intersection of the two curves, where
we note that the output voltage is nearly zero (typically less than 10 mV) and the current
through the two devices is also nearly zero. This means that the power dissipation in the
circuit is very small (typically a fraction of a microwatt). Note, however, that although
QN is operating at nearly zero current and zero drain-source voltage (i.e., near the origin of
the iD-VDs plane), the operating point is on a steep segment of the iD-VDs characteristic
curve. Thus QN provides a low-resistance path between the output terminal and ground,
with the resistance obtained using Eq. (5.13) as
(5.85)

Figure 5.56(c) shows the equivalent circuit of the inverter when the input is high. This
circuit confirms that v 0
VoL = 0 V, and that. the power dissipation in the inverter is
zero.
The other extreme case, when v1 = 0 V, is illustrated in Fig. 5.57. In this case QN is
operating at vcsN = O; hence its iD-VDs characteristic is almost a horizontal straight line
at zero current level. The load curve is the iD-VsD characteristic of the p-channel device
with VscP = V DD As shown, at the operating point the output voltage is almost equal to
VoD (typically less than 10 mV below VDD), and the current in the two devices is still nearly
zero. Thus the power dissipation in the circuit is very small in both extreme states.
Figure 5.57(c) shows the equivalent circuit of the inverter when the input is low. Here
we see that Qp provides a low-resistance path between the output terminal and the de supply
VDD' with the resistance given by

YDSP

(5.86)

VDD

VDD

+
VscP

~ J/[k~(~)P(VDD - jv,p1)]
Load curve

Voo

(vscP

Voo)

rosP
vo

ii
--

VcsN

(a)

VoL

:== 0

=0

--

VDL

Vo

+
VcsN

VDD

(b)

Vo

(c)

Fig. 5.57 Operation of the CMOS inverter when VJ is low: (a) circuit with VJ = OV (logic-0
level, or VoL); (b) grap~ical construction to determine the operating point; and (c) equivalent
circuit.

428

FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS (FETs)

The equivalent circuit confirms that in this case v0

VoH = VDD and that the power
dissipation in the inverter is zero.
It should be noted, however, that in spite of the fact that the quiescent current is zero,
the load-driving capability of the CMOS inverter is high. For instance, with the input high,
as in the circuit of Fig. 5.56, transistor QN can sink a relatively large load current. This
current can quickly discharge the load capacitance, as will be seen shortly. Because of its
action in sinking load current and thus pulling the output voltage down toward ground,
transistor QN is known as the "pull-down" device. Similarly, with the input low, as in the
circuit of Fig. 5.57, transistor Qp can source a relatively large load current. This current
can quickly charge up a load capacitance, thus pulling the output voltage up toward VDD
Hence, Qp is known as the "pull-up" device. The reader will recall that we used this terminology in connection with the conceptual inverter circuit of Fig. 1.32.
From the above, we conclude ~hat the basic CMOS logic inverter behaves as an ideal
inverter:
1. The output voltage levels are 0 and VDD and thus the signal swing is the maximum
possible. This, coupled with the fact that the inverter can be designed to provide a
symmetrical voltage-transfer characteristic, results in wide noise margins.
2. The static power dissipation in the inverter is zero (neglecting the dissipation due
to leakage currents) in both of its states. (Recall that the static power dissipation is
so named so as to distinguish it from the dynamic power dissipation arising from
the repeated switching of the inverter, as will be discussed shortly.)
' 3. A low-resistance path exists between the output terminal and ground (in the lowoutput state) or VDD (in the high-output state). These low-resistance paths ensure
that the output voltage is 0 or VDD independent of the exact values of the (WIL)
ratios or the other device parameters. Further, the low output resistance makes the
inverter less sensitive to the effects of noise and other disturbances.
4. The active pull-up and pull-down devices provide the inverter with high outputdriving capability in both directions. As will be seen, this speeds up the operation
considerably.
5. The input resistance of the inverter is infinite (because le = 0). Thus the inverter
can drive an arbitrarily large number of similar inverters with no loss in signal level.
Of course, each additional inverter increases the load capacitance of the driving
inverter and slows down the operation. Shortly, we will consider the inverter switching times.

The Voltage Transfer Characteristic

The complete voltage-transfer characteristic (VTC) of the CMOS inverter can be obtained
by repeating the graphical procedure, used above in the two extreme cases, for all intermediate values of v1. In the following, we shall calculate the critical points of the resulting
voltage transfer curve. For this we need the i-v relationships of QN and Qp. For QN,
ioN =

k;(~)J(v1 -

Vm)Vo -

~ifo]

(5.87)

5.8

THE CMOS DIGITAL LOGIC INVERTER

429

and
for Vo

VJ -

>

Vrn

(5.88)

For Qp,

ivp = k;(~)Jcvvv -

VJ -

IV,,,l)CVDo - va) -

~(Vvv - va>2]

for Vo

>

VJ

IVrpl

(5.89)

and

1 ,

(w)

lDp=2,kPLP(VDD-vJ-Vip)
1
1

The CMOS inverter is usually designed to have

(5.90)

V,.

IV,,,I

and

k;( ~). k;( ~) . It

=

should be noted that since /Lp is 0.3 to 0.5 times the value of f..lm to make k' (WIL) of the~wo
devices equal, the width of the p-channel device is made two to three times that of the
n-channel device. More specifically, the two devices are designed to have equal lengths,
with widths related by
WP = f..ln
Wn
/Lp

This will result in

k; ( ~) n

;,,

k; ( ~) , and the inverter will have symmetric transfer char-

acteristic and equal current-driving cfpability in both directions (pull-up and pull-down).
With QN and Qp matched, the CMOS inverter has the voltage transfer characteristic
shown in Fig. 5.58. As .~ndicated, the transfer characteristic has five distinct segments corresponding to different combinations of modes of operation of QN and Qp. The vertical
segment BC is obtained when both QN and Qp are operating in the saturation region. Because we are neglecting the finite output resistance in saturation, the inverter gain in this
region is infinite. From symmetry, this vertical segment occurs at VJ = VDD/2 and is
bounded by vo(B) = VDD/2 + Vi and vo(C) = VDD/2 - Yr.
The reader will recall from Section 1. 7 that in addition to VoL and VoH, two other
points on the transfer curve determine the noise margins of the inverter. These are the
maximum permitted logic-0 or "low" level at the input, VJL, and the minimum permitted
logic-I or "high" level at the input, VJH. These are Jormally defined. as the two points on
the transfer curve at which the incremental gain is unity (i.e., the slope is -1 VN).
To determine VJH we note that QN is in the triode region, and thus its current is given
by Eq. (5.87), while Qp is in saturation and its current is given by Eq. (5.90). Equating
iDN and inp, and assuming matched devices,'gives
(VJ -

Vi)vo

2 -2I Vo

2I

cvDD

v1

vt)2

(5.91)

430

FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS (FETs)

QN in saturation
Qp in triode region

Vo
VoH

QNoff

IA

= VDD i - - - - + - -

I
I
I

~ Slope = -: I

I
I
I

(V~D + v) - - -1- -

-----j-

I
I
I
I

I
I
I
I

QNand Qp
.
.
m saturation

c
___ ,I____:_
I
I
I
I
I

I
I
I
I
I

vth -Fig. 5.58

VDD

The voltage transfer characteristic of the CMOS inverter.

Differentiating both sides relative to VJ results in

(vJ -

dvo

Vr)dVJ

dvo
vo-d = -(Vvv VJ

Vo -

VJ -

Vr)

in which we substitute VJ = Vm and dv0 /dvJ = -1 to obtain

Vvv
2

vo = Vm -

(5.92)

Substituting in Eq. (5.91) VJ = Vm and for v 0 from Eq. (5.92) gives

Vm = t(5Vvv - 2Vr)

(5.93)

VIL can be determined in a manner similar to that used to find Vm. Alternatively, we

can use the symmetry relationship

'

Vvv
Vi>v
Vm - - - = - - - VIL

5.8

THE CMOS DIGITAL LOGIC INVERTER

431

together with Vm from Eq. (5.93) to obtain

VIL

t(3VDD

(5.94)

2Vi)

The noise margins can now be determined as follows:

NMH = VoH - VIH
VDD - t(5VDD - 2Vt)
t(3VDD + 2V1)
NML = VIL - VoL
t(3VDD + 2Vi) - 0
-i\-(3VDD

(5.95)

(5.96)

2V1)

As expected, the symmetry of the voltage transfer characteristic results in equal noise margins. Of course, if QN and Qp are not matched, the voltage transfer characteristic will no
longer be symmetric, and the noise margins will not be equal (see Problem 5.94).

Exercises
5.31 For a CMOS inverter with matched MOSFETs having
if VDD

Ans.

V, = 1 V, find

ViL, VJH, and the noise margins

5 v.

2.1 V; 2.9 V; 2.1

5.32 Consider a CMOS inverter with Vrn = IVrpl = 2 V, (WIL)n = 20, (WIL)p = 40, ,nCox = 2,pCox =
20 ,A!V 2 , and VDD = 10 V. For v1 = VDD find the maximum current that the inverter can sink while Vo
remains :5 0.5 V.

Ans.

1.55 mA

5.33 An inverter fabricated in a 1.2-,m CMOS technology uses the minimum possible channel lengths (i.e.,
Ln = LP = 1.2 ,m). If Wn = 1.8 ,m, find the value of WP that would result in QN and Qp being matched.
For this technology, k~ = 80 ,A!V 2 and k; = 27 ,AN 2 Also calculate the value of the output resistance of
the inverter when vo = VOL ~-

Ans.

5.4 ,m; 2 k!l

5.34 Show that the threshold voltage V,h of a CMOS inverter (see Fig. 5.58) is given by

vth

IVrpl)

r(VDD -

+ Vrn

-----~--

where

r=

k;(WIL)p
k~(WIL)n

432

FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS (FETs)

Dynamic Operation
As explained in Section 1.7, the speed of operation of a digital system (e.g., a computer)
is determined by the propagation delay of the logic gates used to construct the system.
Since the inverter is the basic logic gate of any digital IC technology, the propagation delay
of the inverter is a fundamental parameter in characterizing the technology. In the following,
we analyze the switching operation of the CMOS inverter to determine its propagation delay.
Figure 5.59(a) shows the inverter with a capacitor C between the output node and ground.
Here C represents the sum of the internal capacitances of the MOSFEts QN and Qp, the
capacitance of the interconnect wire between the inverter output node and the input of the
other logic gates the inverter is driving, and the total input capacitance of these load (or
fan-out) gates. We assume that the inverter is driven by the ideal pulse (zero rise and fall

tiDP

IC

(a)

Vo
VDD
VDD

Vo

I
I

tPHL~~
I

~~tPLH
11
11

----

0
(b)

Operating
point at
1 = o+
F

VcsN = VDD

IE

I Capaciior I
I discharge I
I through QN t

Operating point I
after switching I
is completed 1
1

I
I Op~rating
I / pomt at
I
t = O-

--~~~~----'-~~-'-~---"'--~--~---1~

V~D

-(d)

(c)

Fig. 5.59 Dynamic operation of a capacitively loaded CMOS inverter:

and output waveforms;
discharges through QN;

(a) circuit; (b) input

(c) trajectory of the operating point as the- input goes high and C
(d) equivalent circuit during the capacitor discharge.

5.8

THE CMOS DIGITAL LOGIC INVERTER

433

times) shown in Fig. 5.59(b). Since the circuit is symmetric (assuming matched MOSFETs),
the rise and fall times of the output waveform should be equal. It is sufficient, therefore, to
consider either the tum-on or the tum-off process. In the following, we consider the first.
Figure 5.59(c) shows the trajectory of the operating point obtained when the input pulse
goes from VoL = 0 to VoH = VDD at time t = 0. Just prior to the leading edge of the
input pulse (that is, at t = 0-) the output voltage equals VDD and capacitor C is charged
to this voltage. At t = 0, v1 rises to VDD, causing Qp to turn off immediately. From then
on, the circuit is equivalent to that shown in Fig. 5.59(d) with the initial value of v 0 =
VDD Thus the operating point at t = O+ is point E, at which it is seen that QN will be in
the saturation region and conducting a large current. As C discharges, the current of QN
remains constant until v 0 = VDD - Vr (point F). Denoting this portion of the discharge
interval tPHLl (where the subscript HL indicates the high-to-low transition), we can write
C[VDD tpHL1

= I ,

(w)

2_kn L

Vi)]

(VDD -

Vi)

n(VDD -

(5.97)
CVr

~k~(~).

V,)

(VDD -

Beyond point F, transistor QN operates in the triode region, and thus its current is given by
Eq. (5.87). This portion of the discharge interval can be described by
iDNdt

= -C dvo

Substituting for iDN from Eq. (5.87) and rearranging the differential equation, we obtain
-

k~(WIL)n

dt

2C

1
= --- - - - - -dvo
----2(VDD -

Vr)

- - - - - rlo 2(VDD -

(5.98)

Vo

Vr)

To find the component of the delay time iPHL during which v 0 decreases from (VDD
Vr) to the 50% point, v 0 = VDD/2, we integrate both sides of Eq. (5.98). Denoting this
component of delay time tpH2, we find that
-

k n'(TIT/L)
yy,
n

2c

___l___ Jvo=VDDl2

PHL2 -

2(VDD -

V)
t

dvo

vo=VDD-Vi

rlo -

(5.99)
Vo

2(VDD-Vr)

Using the fact that

dx
ax 2 - x

In

(i -

__!__)
ax

enables us to evaluate the integral in Eq. (5.99) and thus obtain

tPHL2 =

kn(W/L)n(VDD -

Vr)

ln

(3VDD -

4Vr)

VDD

The two components of tPHL in Eqs. (5.97) a:vd (5.100) can be added to obtain

(5.100)

434

FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS (FET!'>)

Vt

+ -1 ln (3VDD
2

VDD

4Vt)]

(5.101)

For the usual case of Vi = 0.2VDD' this equation reduces to

t
PHL

1.6C
- ----- k~(W/L)n VDD

(5.102)

Similar analysis of the tum-off process yields an expression for tPLH identical to that in Eq.
(5.102) except for k~(WIL)n replaced with k;(WIL)p. The propagation delay tp is the average
of tPHL and tPLH From Eq. (5.102), we note that to obtain lower propagation delays and
hence faster operation, C should be minimized, a high process transconductance parameter
k' should be utilized, the transistor WIL ratio should be increased, and the power-supply
voltage VDD should be increased~ There are, of course, design trade-offs and physical limits
involved in making choices for these parameter values. This subject, however, is too advanced for our present needs.

Exercises
5.35 A CMOS inverter in a VLSI circuit operating from a 5-V supply has (WIL)n = 10 ,m/5 ,m,
(WIL)p = 20 ,m/5 ,m, Vin = IVipl = 1 V, f.LnCox = 2 ,pCox = 20 ,AN 2 If the total effective load ca-

pacitance is 0.1 pF, find

ilj,i
!1)!

rr~

Ans.

f PHL f PLH,

and

tp.

0.8 ns; 0.8 ns; 0.8 ns

5.36 For the CMOS inverter of Exercise 5.32, which is intended for SSI and MSI circuit applications, find
tp

if the load capacitance is 15 pF.

Ans.

6 ns

Current Flow and Power Dissipation

As the CMOS inverter is switched, current flows through the series connection of QN and
Qp. Figure 5.60 shows the inverter current as a function of VJ. We note that the current
peaks at the switching threshold, VJ = Vih = Vvvl2. This current gives rise to dynamic
power dissipation in the CMOS inverter. However, a more significant component of dynamic power dissipation results from the current that flows in QN and Qp when the inverter
is loaded by a capacitor C.
An expression for this latter component can be derived as follows: Consider once more
the circuit in Fig. 5.59(a). At t = 0-, v0 = VDD and the energy stored on the capacitor is
1-CVzw. At t = 0, VJ goes high to VDD' Qp turns off, and QN turns on. Transistor QN then
discharges the capacitor, and at the end of the discharge interval, the capacitor voltage is
reduced to zero. Thus during the discharge interval, energy of -!- CVbv is removed from C
and dissipated in QN. Next consider the other half of the cycle when VJ goes low to zero.

5.8

THE CMOS DIGITAL LOGIC INVERTER

435

Fig. 5.60 The current in the

CMOS inverter versus the input
voltage.

Vin

VDD

Transistor QN turns off, and Qp conducts and charges the capacitor. Let the instantaneous
current supplied by Qp to C be denoted i. This current is, of course, coming from the power
supply VDD Thus the energy drawn from the supply during the charging period will be
fVDDi dt = VDDf i dt = VDD Q, where Q is the charge supplied to the capacitor; that is,
Q = CVDD Thus the energy drawn from the supply during the charging interval is cvbD
At the end of the charging interval, the capacitor voltage will be VDD, and thus the energy
stored in it Will be -t CVbD It follows that during the charging interval, half of the energy
drawn from the supply, -tcvbD, is dissipated in Qp.
From the above, we see that in every cycle, -t CVbD of energy is dissipated in QN and
-tcvbD dissipated in Qp, for a total energy dissipation in the inverter of cvbD Now if the
inverter is switched at the rate off cycles per second, the dynamic power dissipation in it
will be
(5.103)

Observe that the frequency of operation is related to the propagation delay: The lower the
propagation delay, the higher the frequency at which the circuit can be operated and, according to Eq. (5.103), the higher the power dissipation in the circuit. A figure of merit or
a quality measure of the particular circuit technology is the delay-power product (DP),

The delay-power product tends to be a constant for a particular digital circuit technology
and can be used to compare different technologies. Obviously the lower the value of DP
the more effective is the technology. The delay-power product has the units of joules, and
is in effect a measure of the energy dissipated per cycle of operation. Thus for CMOS where
most of the power dissipation is dynamic, we can take DP as simply CVbD

Exercises
5.37 .For the inverter specified in Exercise 5.32, find the peak current drawn from

Ans.

1.8 mA

VDD

during switching.

436

FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTORS (FETs)

5.38 Let the inverter specified in Exercise 5.32 be loaded by a 15-pF capacitance. Find the dynamic power
dissipation that results when the inverter is switched at a frequency of 2 MHz. What is the average current
drawn from the power supply?

Ans.

3 mW; 0.3 mA

5.39 Consider a CMOS VLSI chip having 100,000 gates fabricated in a 1.2-m CMOS technology. Let the
load capacitance per gate be 30 fF. If the chip is operated from a 5-V supply and is switched at a rate of 100
MHz, find (a) the power dissipation per gate, and (b) the total power dissipated in the chip assuming that only
30% of the gates are switched at any one time.

Ans.

75 ,W; 2.25

A Final Remark
In this section, we have provided an introduction to CMOS digital circuits. We shall return
to this subject in Chapter 13, where CMOS logic gates and other CMOS digital circuits are
studied.