TABLE OF CONTENTS In this chapter, compact models for the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor are briefly introduced and their evolution since the late 1960s is summarized.
During the initial years, from the early 1960s until the late 1970s, the design of integrated circuits (IC) was the domain of circuit designers working within semiconductor companies. This paradigm started to change in the early 1980s, after the introduction of the text Introduction to VLSI Systems , by Carver Mead and Lynn Conway [1]. The Mead-Conway text was written to fill a gap in the literature and to introduce electrical engineering and computer science students to integrated system architecture and design. Instrumental in the wide diffusion of the IC design capabilities were the multiproject chip initiatives which began in the 1980s. The access to fast prototyping of chips has allowed engineers other than those working within semiconductor companies to design VLSI chips.
During the 1970s, nMOS was the dominant technology for highly complex digital circuits. In the early 1980s, CMOS became the technology of choice for general-purpose integrated circuit applications [2]. Advantages of CMOS technology include low static power consumption, simple laws of scalability, and stability of operation [2]. Finally, the CMOS technology has proven to be useful not only for digital circuits but also for analog and RF circuits; as a result, many chips today are complete systems thanks to the flexibility and scalability of the CMOS technology.
As a consequence of the explosive growth of the IC business, including fab and...
