Virtually all semiconductor devices have some amount of leakage current. It is interesting to note as operating voltages and device power consumption keep dropping, leakage current is becoming a larger percentage of a device’s power consumption. In most cases there isn’t much you can do about leakage currents other than be aware of them and account for them in your power analysis. In some cases there may be a significant difference in leakage current levels from manufacturer to manufacturer for devices that perform the same function so it pays to take the time to include leakage current comparison in your component selection. For a CMOS device that isn’t actively being clocked, leakage current can make up a significant part of its power consumption that may be called out as “standby current” or “quiescent state current” in the datasheet.
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