3/30/2023 0 Comments Who invented the transistor![]() Kilby is usually credited with having developed the concept of integrating device and circuit elements onto a single silicon chip, while Noyce is given credit for having conceived the method for integrating the separate elements.Įarly ICs contained about 10 individual components on a silicon chip 3 mm (0.12 inch) square. This fact, together with the need for compact, lightweight electronic missile-guidance systems, led to the invention of the integrated circuit (IC) independently by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments Incorporated in 1958 and by Jean Hoerni and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation in 1959. Computers employed hundreds of thousands of transistors each. Integrated circuitsīy 1960 vacuum tubes were rapidly being supplanted by transistors, because the latter had become less expensive, did not burn out in service, and were much smaller and more reliable. The mask pattern, formed by a photolithographic process, permits the creation of tiny transistors and other electronic components in the silicon. This film is utilized as a mask to permit the desired impurities that modify the electrical properties of silicon to be introduced into it during manufacture of semiconductor devices. There was one other important property of silicon, not appreciated at the time but crucial to the development of low-cost transistors and integrated circuits: silicon, unlike germanium, forms a tenaciously adhering oxide film with excellent electrical insulating properties when it is heated to high temperatures in the presence of oxygen. Silicon diodes can be operated at temperatures up to 200 ☌ (400 ☏), whereas germanium diodes cannot be operated above 85 ☌ (185 ☏). In addition, silicon retains its semiconducting properties at higher temperatures than does germanium. Silicon quickly became the preferred raw material, because it is much more abundant than germanium and thus less expensive. Because the electrical properties of semiconductors are extremely sensitive to the slightest trace of certain other elements, only about one part per billion of such elements can be tolerated in material to be used for making semiconductor devices.ĭuring the late 1950s, research on the purification of silicon succeeded in producing material suitable for semiconductor devices, and new devices made of silicon were manufactured from about 1960. ![]() The availability of two kinds of charge carriers in semiconductors is a valuable property exploited in many electronic devices made of such materials.Įarly transistors were produced using germanium as the semiconductor material, because methods of purifying it to the required degree had been developed during and shortly after World War II. The electric current in semiconductors is carried by electrons, which have a negative charge, and also by “holes,” analogous entities that carry a positive charge. Transistors, along with such subsequent developments as integrated circuits, are made of crystalline solid materials called semiconductors, which have electrical properties that can be varied over an extremely wide range by the addition of minuscule quantities of other elements. Shockley of the Bell research staff provided the first of a series of new devices with remarkable potential for expanding the utility of electronic equipment ( see photograph). The invention of the transistor in 1947 by John Bardeen, Walter H. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |