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A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is one of the fundamental building blocks of modern electronic devices. Transistors are made from semiconductor materials, most commonly silicon. They have at least three terminals, through which an electrical signal can be altered.

The most common type of transistor is the bipolar junction transistor (BJT), which has three terminals: the base, the collector, and the emitter. A small current flowing into the base controls a much larger current flowing between the collector and the emitter. Another widely used type is the field-effect transistor (FET), which includes MOSFETs. In an FET, a voltage applied to a gate terminal controls the conductivity of a channel between two other terminals, the source and the drain.

Transistors were invented in 1947 at Bell Labs by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. Their invention revolutionized electronics, leading to the miniaturization of devices and the development of integrated circuits. Before transistors, vacuum tubes were used for similar functions, but they were bulky, fragile, and consumed a lot of power.

Today, billions of transistors can be found on a single microchip. They are essential components in computers, smartphones, televisions, radios, and virtually every other electronic gadget. Their ability to control current flow with precision and in response to other signals makes them indispensable for signal processing, amplification, and switching applications.