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MOSFET - The Metal Oxide FET

The MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) is a type of insulated gate field effect transistor that uses a thin layer of insulating material like silicon dioxide between the metal gate electrode and the semiconductor channel. This insulation allows the gate to function like the plate of a capacitor, giving the MOSFET very high input resistance and making it act like a voltage-controlled resistor where drain current is proportional to gate voltage. There are two types of MOSFETs - depletion mode which requires a gate voltage to turn off and enhancement mode which requires a gate voltage to turn on, functioning like normally closed and normally open switches respectively.

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Patricia KC
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70 views

MOSFET - The Metal Oxide FET

The MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) is a type of insulated gate field effect transistor that uses a thin layer of insulating material like silicon dioxide between the metal gate electrode and the semiconductor channel. This insulation allows the gate to function like the plate of a capacitor, giving the MOSFET very high input resistance and making it act like a voltage-controlled resistor where drain current is proportional to gate voltage. There are two types of MOSFETs - depletion mode which requires a gate voltage to turn off and enhancement mode which requires a gate voltage to turn on, functioning like normally closed and normally open switches respectively.

Uploaded by

Patricia KC
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MOSFET - The Metal Oxide FET

As well as the Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET), there is another type of Field Effect Transistor available whose Gate input is electrically insulated from the main current carrying channel and is therefore called an Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor or IGFET. The most common type of insulated gate FET which is used in many different types of electronic circuits is called the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor or MOSFET for short. The IGFET or MOSFET is a voltage controlled field effect transistor that differs from a JFET in that it has a "Metal Oxide" Gate electrode which is electrically insulated from the main semiconductor N-channel or P-channel by a thin layer of insulating material usually silicon dioxide (commonly known as glass). This insulated metal gate electrode can be thought of as one plate of a capacitor. The isolation of the controlling Gate makes the input resistance of the MOSFET extremely high in the Mega-ohms ( M ) region thereby making it almost infinite. As the Gate terminal is isolated from the main current carrying channel "NO current flows into the gate" and just like the JFET, the MOSFET also acts like a voltage controlled resistor were the current flowing through the main channel between the Drain and Source is proportional to the input voltage. Also like the JFET, this very high input resistance can easily accumulate large amounts of static charge resulting in the MOSFET becoming easily damaged unless carefully handled or protected. Like the JFET, MOSFETs are three terminal devices with a Gate, Drain and Source and both P-channel (PMOS) and N-channel (NMOS) MOSFETs are available. The main difference this time is that MOSFETs are available in two basic forms: 1. Depletion Type - the transistor requires the Gate-Source voltage, ( VGS ) to switch the device "OFF". The depletion mode MOSFET is equivalent to a "Normally Closed" switch. 2. Enhancement Type - the transistor requires a Gate-Source voltage, ( VGS ) to switch the device "ON". The enhancement mode MOSFET is equivalent to a "Normally Open" switch.

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