Editing CMOS (section)

==== Short-circuit power ====
Since there is a finite rise/fall time for both pMOS and nMOS, during transition, for example, from off to on, both the transistors will be on for a small period of time in which current will find a path directly from V<sub>DD</sub> to ground, hence creating a [[short-circuit current]], sometimes called a ''crowbar'' current. Short-circuit power dissipation increases with the rise and fall time of the transistors.

This form of power consumption became significant in the 1990s as wires on chip became narrower and the long wires became more resistive. CMOS gates at the end of those resistive wires see slow input transitions. Careful design which avoids weakly driven long skinny wires reduces this effect, but crowbar power can be a substantial part of dynamic CMOS power.