In digital electronics, a NAND gate (negative-AND) is a logic gate which produces an output

which is false only if all its inputs are true; thus its output is complement to that of the AND
gate. A LOW (0) output results only if both the inputs to the gate are HIGH (1); if one or both
inputs are LOW (0), a HIGH (1) output results. It is made using transistors and junction diodes.
By De Morgan's theorem, AB=A+B, and thus a NAND gate is equivalent to inverters followed by
an OR gate.

The NAND gate is significant because any boolean function can be implemented by using a
combination of NAND gates. This property is called functional completeness. It shares this
property with the NOR gate.

Digital systems employing certain logic circuits take advantage of NAND's functional
completeness.

The function NAND(a1, a2, ..., an) is logically equivalent to NOT(a1 AND a2 AND ... AND an).

SymbolsEdit

There are three symbols for NAND gates: the MIL/ANSI symbol, the IEC symbol and the
deprecated DIN symbol sometimes found on old schematics. For more information see logic
gate symbols. The ANSI symbol for the NAND gate is a standard AND gate with an inversion
bubble connected.
NAND ANSI Labelled.svg NAND IEC.svg NAND DIN.svg

MIL/ANSI Symbol IEC Symbol DIN Symbol

Hardware description and pinoutEdit

NAND gates are basic logic gates, and as such they are recognised in TTL and CMOS ICs.

This schematic diagram shows the arrangement of NAND gates within a standard 4011 CMOS
integrated circuit.

ImplementationsEdit

The NAND gate has the property of functional completeness. That is, any other logic function
(AND, OR, etc.) can be implemented using only NAND gates.[1] An entire processor can be
created using NAND gates alone. In TTL ICs using multiple-emitter transistors, it also requires
fewer transistors than a NOR gate.
NMOS NAND gate

PMOS NAND gate

CMOS NAND gate

TTL NAND gate

The physical layout of a CMOS NAND

Die of a 74AHC00D quad 2-input NAND gate manufactured by NXP Semiconductors

Silicon implementation of 4 NAND gates in an integrated circuit

AlternativesEdit

Further information: NAND logic and NOR logic

If no specific NAND gates are available, one can be made from NOR gates, because NAND and
NOR gates are considered the "universal gates", meaning that they can be used to make all the
other gates.[1]

Desired gate

NOR Construction

NAND ANSI Labelled.svg NAND from NOR.svg

See also