Polyera Corporation

CMOS is a circuit-design architecture that requires both the use of n- and p-type transistors.  CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits. CMOS technology is also used for a wide variety of analog circuits such as image sensors, data converters, and highly integrated transceivers for many types of communication.

Two important characteristics of CMOS devices are high noise immunity and low static power consumption. Significant power is only drawn when the transistors in the CMOS device are switching between on and off states. Consequently, CMOS devices do not produce as much waste heat as other forms of logic, for example transistor-transistor logic (TTL) or NMOS logic, which uses all n-channel devices without p-channel devices. CMOS also allows a high density of logic functions on a chip.

A CMOS inverter. When positive voltage is applied, the n-type transistor is pulled on, and the output is grounded to 0V. When the gate is off at 0V, the p-type transistor is on, and the output is pulled to the source voltage.

Historically, CMOS had not been possible in the area of printed- and flexible electronics, because only p-type organic semiconductors had shown the requisite level of performance. With the advent of Polyera's ActivInk^TM N-Class of n-type semiconductors, CMOS circuits are now possible for the first time, leading to simpler circuit design and lower device power consumption.