Related topics: electronic devices , silicon
Transistor
hideIn electronics, a transistor is a semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals. A transistor is made of a solid piece of a 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 flowing through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be much more than the controlling (input) power, the transistor provides amplification of a signal.
The transistor is the fundamental building block of modern electronic devices, and is used in radio, telephone, computer and other electronic systems. The transistor is often cited as being one of the greatest achievements in the 20th century, and some consider it one of the most important technological breakthroughs in human history. Some transistors are packaged individually but most are found in integrated circuits.
For more information about Transistor, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with transistors
Scientists build 'single-atom transistor'
Dec 06, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (35) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Helsinki University of Technology (Finland), University of New South Wales (Australia), and University of Melbourne (Australia) have succeeded in building a working transistor, ...
Gallium nitride transistor could replace silicon
Dec 08, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (36) |
6
(PhysOrg.com) -- A Cornell researcher has created an extremely efficient transistor made from gallium nitride, which may soon replace silicon as king of semiconductors for power applications.
Computers Faster Only for 75 More Years? Physicists determine nature's limit to making faster processors
Oct 14, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (26) |
32
With the speed of computers so regularly seeing dramatic increases in their processing speed, it seems that it shouldn't be too long before the machines become infinitely fast -- except they can't.
Atomtronic transistor and diode could advance quantum computing
Oct 09, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (24) |
5
(PhysOrg.com) -- What if atoms could be used to perform the functions currently the province of electronic devices? The goal of atomtronics is to do just that by creating analogues to the common items found in electronic ...
Fujitsu Develops Technology for Low-Temperature Full-Service Direct Formation of Graphene Transistors on Large-Scale Sub
Nov 27, 2009 |
5 / 5 (22) |
4
Fujitsu Laboratories today announced, as a world first, the development of a novel technology for forming graphene transistors directly on the entire surface of large-scale insulating substrates at low temperatures ...
Memristor chip could lead to faster, cheaper computers
Mar 17, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (22) |
4
(PhysOrg.com) -- The memristor is a computer component that offers both memory and logic functions in one simple package. It has the potential to transform the semiconductor industry, enabling smaller, faster, cheaper chips ...
Researchers create all-electric spintronics
Oct 27, 2009 |
5 / 5 (21) |
3
A multidisciplinary team of UC researchers is the first to find an innovative and novel way to control an electron's spin orientation using purely electrical means.
Fundamental flaw in transistor noise theory discovered
May 21, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (20) |
10
(PhysOrg.com) -- Chip manufacturers beware: There's a newfound flaw in our understanding of transistor noise, a phenomenon affecting the electronic on-off switch that makes computer circuits possible. According ...
Running electronics using light
Oct 19, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (19) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- "If you open up almost any electronic gadget, you will see various elements that operating using electric circuitries," Nader Engheta tells PhysOrg.com. "Many of them have different functi ...
Flexible Polymer Transistors 'Printed' Using Ultraviolet Light
Dec 19, 2008 |
4.6 / 5 (17) |
2
(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer and television displays made using flexible, bendable polymer materials are technologies of the future, promising roll-up computer monitors and other innovations. Scientists are making ...
New 'finFETs' promising for smaller transistors, more powerful chips
Nov 10, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (15) |
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Purdue University researchers are making progress in developing a new type of transistor that uses a finlike structure instead of the conventional flat design, possibly enabling engineers ...
Physicists put a new spin on electrons
Apr 15, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (15) |
4
In the first demonstration of its kind, researchers at the University of British Columbia have controlled the spin of electrons using a ballistic technique--bouncing electrons through a microscopic channel of precisely constructed, ...
INL, ISU team on nanoparticle production breakthrough
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 19, 2009 |
5 / 5 (14) |
1
Every hour, the sun floods Earth with more energy than the entire world consumes in a year. Yet solar power accounts for less than 0.002 percent of all electricity generated in the United States, primarily ...
Novel Superlens Offers a Simplified Subwavelength Imaging Technique
May 11, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (16) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- Since the first demonstrations of subwavelength imaging just a few years ago, scientists have been making great improvements, developing a variety of new methods for realizing high-resolution imaging. Recently, ...
Could a paper transistor offer an alternative to silicon?
Sep 22, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (15) |
6
(PhysOrg.com) -- As technology advances, scientists look for ways to enhance electronic applications and devices. Indeed, electronics are getting smaller and more diverse. And as this happens, there is an increased requirement ...
