Transistöre

Transistöre is a fundamental semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material, usually silicon, with at least three terminals. The most common types of transistors are bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and field-effect transistors (FETs).

BJTs consist of three layers of semiconductor material, either NPN or PNP. A small current flowing into or out of the base terminal controls a much larger current flowing between the collector and emitter terminals. This amplification property makes BJTs suitable for use in amplifiers and oscillators.

FETs, on the other hand, use an electric field to control the conductivity of a semiconductor channel. They have three terminals: the gate, the source, and the drain. The voltage applied to the gate terminal controls the current flow between the source and drain. FETs are known for their high input impedance and are widely used in digital logic circuits, such as microprocessors and memory chips, as well as in high-frequency applications.

The invention of the transistor in 1947 at Bell Laboratories by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley revolutionized electronics. It replaced bulky and unreliable vacuum tubes, paving the way for smaller, more efficient, and more affordable electronic devices. Transistors are the building blocks of modern electronics, forming the basis of integrated circuits (ICs) which contain millions or billions of transistors on a single chip. Their development is a cornerstone of the digital age.