Fundamentals of MOSFETs

MOSFET – is an acronym for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor and it is the key component in high frequency, high efficiency switching applications across the electronics industry. It might be surprising, but FET technology was invented in 1930, some 20 years before the bipolar transistor. The first signal level FET transistors were built in the late 1950’s while power MOSFETs have been available from the mid 70’s. Today, millions of MOSFET transistors are integrated in modern electronic components, from microprocessors, through “discrete” power transistors. 

The bipolar and the MOSFET transistors exploit the same operating principle. Fundamentally, both type of transistors are charge controlled devices, which means that their output current is proportional to the charge established in the semiconductor by the control electrode. When these devices are used as switches, both must be driven from a low impedance source capable of sourcing and sinking sufficient current to provide for fast insertion and extraction of the controlling charge. From this point of view, the MOSFETs have to be driven just as “hard” during turn-on and turn-off as a bipolar transistor to achieve comparable switching speeds. Theoretically, the switching speeds of the bipolar and MOSFET devices are close to identical, determined by the time required for the charge carriers to travel across the semiconductor region. Typical values in power devices are approximately 20 to 200 picoseconds depending on the size of the device.

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Fundamentals of MOSFETs

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Buy: Fundamentals of Electronics: Book 1 Electronic Devices and Circuit Applications (Synthesis Lectures on Digital Circuits and Systems)