Transistor (1947 to ...)
A Transistor (1947 to ...) is a semiconductor device with a base electrode, an emitter electrode and a collector electrode, that sandwiches dissimilar semiconductors such that can control current flow under certain conditions.
- AKA: Transfer Resistor, Solid-State Amplifier, Three-Terminal Semiconductor Device.
- Context:
- It can typically amplify Electronic Signals through current control mechanisms between collector terminals and emitter terminals.
- It can typically switch Electronic Circuits by controlling current flow through base terminal modulation.
- It can typically regulate Electrical Current using minority carrier injection or field effect control.
- It can typically enable Digital Logic Operations through saturated switching modes.
- It can typically provide Current Gain ratios from input terminals to output terminals.
- ...
- It can often operate at Radio Frequencys for wireless communication applications.
- It can often dissipate Thermal Energy requiring heat sinks in power applications.
- It can often form Integrated Circuit Building Blocks through photolithographic processes.
- It can often enable Voltage Regulation in power supply circuits.
- ...
- It can be modeled with 2 Diodes that share one end. The shared end is called the base and the other 2 ends are called the emitter and collector.
- It can range from being an NPN Transistor to being a PNP Transistor, based on their field effects.
- It can range from being a Point-Contact Transistor to being a FinFET Transistor, depending on its fabrication technology evolution.
- It can range from being a Small-Signal Transistor to being a Power Transistor, depending on its current handling capability.
- It can range from being a Bipolar Junction Transistor to being a Field-Effect Transistor, depending on its charge carrier control mechanism.
- ...
- It can have Silicon, Germanium, or Gallium Arsenide as its semiconductor substrate material.
- It can have Three Terminals for external circuit connections in most transistor configurations.
- It can have Four Terminals in some MOSFET configurations including body terminals.
- It can have Current Gain (Beta) values ranging from 10 to 1000 in bipolar transistors.
- It can have Transconductance as its key performance parameter in field-effect transistors.
- ...
- Example(s):
- First Generation Transistors (1947-1959), characterized by discrete component technology:
- Point-Contact Transistor (1947), invented at Bell Labs with germanium crystal.
- Grown-Junction Transistor (1950), demonstrating crystal growing technique.
- Alloy-Junction Transistor (1951), implementing indium dots on germanium substrate.
- Surface-Barrier Transistor (1953), achieving higher frequency operation.
- Drift Transistor (1954), introducing graded base doping.
- Silicon Transistor Era (1954-1970s), characterized by silicon semiconductor adoption:
- Silicon Transistor (1954), developed by Texas Instruments for commercial production.
- Mesa Transistor (1957), using mesa etching process.
- Planar Transistor (1959), implementing oxide passivation layer.
- Epitaxial Transistor (1960), featuring epitaxial layer growth.
- Field-Effect Transistor Developments (1960-present), characterized by voltage-controlled operation:
- JFET (1960), implementing junction field effect.
- MOSFET Transistor (1959), enabling metal-oxide-semiconductor structure.
- CMOS Transistor (1963), combining n-channel and p-channel devices.
- Power MOSFET (1970s), supporting high-voltage switching.
- HEMT (1980), utilizing heterojunction structure.
- FinFET (2011), implementing three-dimensional gate structure.
- Gate-All-Around FET (2022), providing superior electrostatic control.
- Specialized Transistor Types, characterized by application-specific design:
- Darlington Transistor, providing super-beta configuration.
- IGBT (1982), combining bipolar and MOSFET characteristics.
- Phototransistor, responding to optical signals.
- Unijunction Transistor, featuring single junction.
- ...
- First Generation Transistors (1947-1959), characterized by discrete component technology:
- Counter-Example(s):
- a Diode, which has only two terminals and lacks amplification capability.
- a Resistor, which provides passive resistance without active control.
- a Capacitor, which stores electrical charge without semiconductor junctions.
- a Relay, which uses mechanical contacts rather than semiconductor control.
- a Cathode, which is a single electrode rather than a complete device.
- Vacuum Tubes, which use thermionic emission in vacuum rather than solid-state conduction.
- Thyristors, which lack linear amplification mode and operate as latching switches.
- See: Solid Electronic Component, Semiconductor, Integrated Circuit, Moore's Law, Electronic Amplifier, Digital Logic Gate.
References
2022
- (Wikipedia, 2022) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor Retrieved:2022-12-23.
- File:MOSFET Structure.pngMetal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), showing gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electrical signals and power. The transistor is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semiconductor material, usually with at least three terminals for connection to an electronic circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals controls the current through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal. Some transistors are packaged individually, but many more are found embedded in integrated circuits. Austro-Hungarian physicist Julius Edgar Lilienfeld proposed the concept of a field-effect transistor in 1926, but it was not possible to actually construct a working device at that time. The first working device to be built was a point-contact transistor invented in 1947 by American physicists John Bardeen and Walter Brattain while working under William Shockley at Bell Labs. The three shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their achievement. The most widely used type of transistor is the metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), which was invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in 1959.[1][2][3] Transistors revolutionized the field of electronics, and paved the way for smaller and cheaper radios, calculators, and computers, among other things.
Most transistors are made from very pure silicon, and some from germanium, but certain other semiconductor materials are sometimes used. A transistor may have only one kind of charge carrier, in a field-effect transistor, or may have two kinds of charge carriers in bipolar junction transistor devices. Compared with the vacuum tube, transistors are generally smaller and require less power to operate. Certain vacuum tubes have advantages over transistors at very high operating frequencies or high operating voltages. Many types of transistors are made to standardized specifications by multiple manufacturers.
2013
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor
- A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal. Today, some transistors are packaged individually, but many more are found embedded in integrated circuits.
The transistor is the fundamental building block of modern electronic devices, and is ubiquitous in modern electronic systems. Following its development in 1947 by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley, the transistor revolutionized the field of electronics, and paved the way for smaller and cheaper radios, calculators, and computers, among other things. The transistor is on the list of IEEE milestones in electronics, and the inventors were jointly awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their achievement.
- A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal. Today, some transistors are packaged individually, but many more are found embedded in integrated circuits.
2011
- http://www.wikihow.com/Test-a-Transistor
- The collector accepts an input current from the circuit, but it can't send the current through the transistor until allowed to by the base.
- The emitter sends a current out into the circuit, but only if the base allows the collector to pass the current through the transistor to the emitter.
- The base acts like a gate. When a small current is applied to the base, the gate opens and a large current can flow from the collector to the emitter.
- http://www.wikihow.com/Test-a-Transistor
- An NPN transistor uses a positive semiconductor material (P-type) for the base and negative semiconductor material (N-type)for the collector and emitter. On a circuit diagram, and NPN transistor shows an emitter with the arrow pointing out (Never Points iN).
- A PNP transistor uses an N-type material for the base and P-type material for the emitter and collector. The PNP transistor show an emitter with the arrow pointing in (Points iN Permanently).