Technical details

"CMOS" refers to both a particular style of digital circuitry design, and the family of processes used to implement that circuitry on integrated circuits (chips). CMOS circuitry dissipates less power than logic families with resistive loads. Since this advantage has increased and grown more important, CMOS processes and variants have come to dominate, thus the vast majority of modern integrated circuit manufacturing is on CMOS processes. As of 2010, CPUs with the best performance per watt each year have been CMOS static logic since 1976.

CMOS circuits use a combination of p-type and n-type metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) to implement logic gates and other digital circuits found in computers, telecommunications equipment, and signal processing equipment. Although CMOS logic can be implemented with discrete devices (e.g., for instructional purposes in an introductory circuits class), typical commercial CMOS products are integrated circuits composed of millions of transistors of both types on a rectangular piece of silicon of between 10 and 400mm². These devices are commonly called "chips", although within the industry they are also referred to as a "die" (singular), "dice" (plural), or "dies" (plural).