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BiCMOS

Combines Bipolar and CMOS transistors in a single integrated circuit. By retaining benefits of bipolar
and CMOS, BiCMOS is able to achieve VLSI circuits with speed-power-density performance. The
superiority of the BiCMOS gate lies in the high current drive capability of the bipolar output
transistors, the zero static power dissipation, and the high input impedance provided by the MOSFET
configuration.
(STUDY fabrication of BICMOS STRUCTURE FROM TEXT -BOTKAR)
COMPARISON B/W CMOS AND BIPOLAR TECHNOLOGIES
CMOS
Low static power dissipation
High i/p impedance
High noise margin
High packing density
High delay sensitivity to load
Low output drive current
Low gm(transconductance)
Bidirectional capability
Nearly ideal switching device
Advantages of BiCMOS

BIPOLAR
High static power dissipation
Low i/p impedance
Low noise margin(low voltage swing logic
Low packing density
Low delay sensitivity to load
High output drive current
Large gm(transconductance)
unidirectional
Non ideal switching device

BiCMOS devices offer high load current sinking and sourcing is required. The high current
gain of the NPN transistor greatly improves the output drive capability of a conventional
CMOS device.
Improved speed over purely-CMOS technology
Lower power dissipation than purely-bipolar technology (simplifying packaging and board
requirements)
Latchup immunity
Flexible I/Os (i.e., TTL, CMOS or ECL compatible) BiCMOS technology is well suited for
I/O intensive applications. ECL, TTL and CMOS input and output levels can easily be
generated
DISADVANTAGE
Costlier due to added Processing Complexity.Additional masking steps than in CMOS to
fabricate bipolar structure along with CMOS
COMPARISON B/W CMOS BIPOLAR AND BiCMOS TECHNOLOGIES
CMOS
Low static power dissipation

BIPOLAR
High static power dissipation

Low speed(Slow switching)


Low o/p current drive
High i/p impedance
High noise margin(high o/p
voltage swing)
Fabrication process simpler
compared to BiCMOS
BiCMOS Logic gates

High speed
High o/p current drive
Low i/p impedance
Low noise margin
Simpler fabrication

BiCMOS
Low static power dissipation
than Bipolar
Faster than CMOS
High o/p current drive
High i/p impedance
High noise margin compared to
bipolar
Fabrication process is complex

Designed with MOS circuits to implement the logic and bipolar transistors to drive output loads.
Charactreristics of BiCMOS logic gates(write for inverter,nand and nor)

The o/p logic levels will be god nd will be close to rail voltages
High i/p impedance
Low o/p impedance
High current drive capability,occupies relatives smaller area
High noise margin

BiCMOS invereter

BiCMOS inverter circuit consists of two bipolartransistors T1 and T2 with one nMOS T3 and one
pMOS transistor T4,both being enhancemnet mode devices.
OPERATION OF CIRCUIT
With Vin=0 volts(GND),T3 is off so that T1 will be non conductiong.but T4 is on and
supplies current to base of T2 which will conduct and act as current source to charge load C L
towards +5 VOLTS(VDD). The O/P of inverter rise +5 volts less base to emitter voltage
VBEof T2.
With Vin=+5 volts(VDD),T4 is off so that T2 will be non conductiong.but T3 is on and
supplies current to base of T1 which will conduct and act as current sink to disccharge load
CL towards 0 VOLTS(GND). The O/P of inverter will fall to 0 volts plus saturation voltage
VCEsat from collector to emitter of T1.
T1 AND T2 will present low impedances when turned on into saturation and load C L will be
charged or discharged rapidly.

The o/p logic levels will be god nd will be close to rail voltages

Inverter has High i/p impedance


Inverter has Low o/p impedance
Inverter has High current drive capability,occupies relatives smaller area
Inverter has High noise margin
LIMITATIONS OF BASIC INVERETER CONFIGURATION
Owing to presence of DC path from VDD to GND through T3 and T1 ,this is not a ood
arrangement to implement since there will be a significant static current flow whenever
Vin=logic1.
Thre is no diharge path for current from base of either bipolar transistor when it is being
turned off.This will slow down action of circuit.
An improved BiCMOS inverter WITH NO STATIC CURRENT FLOW

DC path through T3 and T1 is eliminated but o/p voltage swing is now reduced since output cannot
fall below base to emitter voltage of T1.(this o/p volt is in effect base voltage of T1 in this
arrangement.T1 wil turn off if o/p volt fall below VBE OF T1.)

Consider the simple BiCMOS inverter circuit shown in figure which consists of two MOS transistors
and two' npn-type bipolar transistors which drive a large output capacitance Cload. The operation
concept of this circuit can be very briefly summarized as follows.
The complementary pMOS and nMOS transistors MP and MN supply base currents to the bipolar
transistors and thus act as "trigger" devices for the bipolar output stage. The bipolar transistor Q 1 can
effectively pull up the output voltage in the presence of a large output capacitance, whereas Q2 pulls
down the output voltage, similar to the well-known totem pole configuration. Depending on the logic
level of the input voltage, either MN or MP can be turned on in steady state, therefore assuring a fully
complementary pushpull operation mode for the two bipolar transistors. In this very simplistic
configuration, two resistors are used to remove the base charge of the bipolar transistors when they
are in cut-off mode. In this circuit resistors provide better improved o/p swing of voltage .
To reduce the turn-off times of the bipolar transistors during switching, two minimum-size nMOS
transistors (MB 1 and MB2) are usually added to provide the necessary base discharge path, instead of
the two resistors(resistors are space consuming). The resulting six-transistor inverter circuit, shown in
Fig.,below is the most widely used conventional BiCMOS inverter configuration.

Conventional BiCMOS inverter.


BiCMOS NOR2

Figure shows the circuit diagram of a BiCMOS NOR2 gate. Here, the base of the bipolar pull-up
transistor Q1 is being driven by two series-connected Pmos transistors. Therefore, the pull-up device
can be turned on only if both of the inputs are logic-low. The base of the bipolar pull-down transistor
Q2 is driven by two parallel-connected nMOS transistors. Therefore, the pull-down device can be
turned on if either one or both of the inputs are logic-high. Also, the base charge of the pull-up device
is removed by two minimum-size nMOS transistors connected in parallel between the base node and
the ground. Notice that only one nMOS transistor, MB2, is being used for removing the base charge
of Q2, when both inputs are logic-low.

BiCMOS NAND2

Figure shows the circuit diagram of a BiCMOS NAND2 gate. In this case, the base of the bipolar
pull-up transistor Q I is being driven by two parallel-connected Pmos transistors. Hence, the pull-up
device is turned on when either one or both of the inputs are logic-low. The bipolar pull-down
transistor Q2, on the other hand, is driven by two series-connected nMOS transistors between the
output node and the base. Therefore, the pull-down device can be turned on only if both of the inputs
are logic-high. For the removal of the base charges of Q1 during turn-off, two series-connected nMOS
transistors are used, whereas only one nMOS transistor is utilized for removing the base charge of Q2.

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