[ noun ] a semiconductor device capable of amplification <noun.artifact>
Transistor \Trans*ist"or\, n. [transfer + resistor, from its ability to tranfer a current across a resistor.] (Electronics) a component used in electronic devices consisting of three regions of at least two types of a semiconducting material, such as doped silicon, connected to each other and to three electrodes in a conducting path so as to modify the current or voltage in an electronic circuit.
Note: Transistors are used in almost all modern electronic devices, having replaced the vacuum tube in most applications. Since they are based on the electronic characteristics of solids, they are called solid-state devices. Typically a transistor is composed of p, n, and p-type semiconductors in series, or of n, p, and n, with the center region being a thin layer between the two outer regions. An electronic signal input to the central layer may be substantially amplified by such a device. In integrated circuits, many thousands of transistors may be etched into a single small wafer of silicon. [PJC]
The flat screens use the same thin-film transistor technology incorporated in the latest portable computers.
The more transistors on one chip and the faster each works, the more each chip can do for the user. But the transistor is basically a switch.
A bad transistor was probably responsible for the failure of the satellite's transmitter, Uesugi said.
He also said the small size of the new transistor would permit the development of lap-top high-speed computers.
Shockley, a physicist who invented the junction transistor, believed that certain races _ blacks for example _ were genetically disposed to be intellectually inferior.
Officials at American Telephone & Telegraph Co., which owns Bell Labs, likened the development to that of the transistor, which made it possible to make electronic devices smaller, sturdier and more reliable.
This technology, called thin film transistor, boasts a contrast ratio of 1:100, allowing for full-colour displays and response times fast enough for video display.
Shockley, a physicist who invented the junction transistor, believed that certain races were genetically disposed to be intellectually inferior.
In the dusty suburb of Palanca, a young soldier who identified himself only as Ben leaned against the barred doors of a darkened cafe and switched off the regular "Good Morning, Combatant" progam on his transistor radio.
Ken Frazier, a Sandia spokeesman, said the new transistor may serve as a bridge between circuitry that functions at room temperature and circuitry being developed using superconductivity close to absolute zero.
They cite such famous MITI flubs as its failed attempts to block Sony Corp. from acquiring American transistor technology in 1953 and Honda Motor Co. from entering the auto business in 1963.
But the momentum for freedom does not just come from the printed word or the transistor or the television screen.
A display is made up of hundreds of thousands of individual pixels, or dots, each of which must be controlled by a tiny transistor.