Highly sensitive high performance sense amplifiers

An improved voltage sensing circuit is provided which includes a pair of cross-coupled bipolar transistors coupled to a pair of signal nodes, a pair of cross-coupled field effect transistors coupled to the same pair of signal nodes and means for activating the bipolar transistors during a first period of time and then activating the field effect transistors. The bipolar transistors are preferably NPN transistors and the field effect transistors are preferably P channel transistors. The circuit may be conveniently fabricated in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology.