It is put in the centre of the transistor.Įmitter: The emitter is the negative terminal of the transistor. The three terminals are:īase: The base activates the transistor. That's why they are called the current controlling device.Ī transistor is a combination of three terminals made of semiconducting materials that help in making a connection to an external circuit and allow current to flow. The transistors can control the flow of current through one channel by changing the intensity of a small amount of current flowing via a second channel. The transistors use semiconductor junctions instead of heating electrodes but perform the same function as a vacuum triode. Transistors can operate on a low-voltage supply for greater safety which means they yield higher efficiency and very long life. It is a semiconductor device that acts as a switch and an amplifier.

The most widely used transistors are NPN transistors as the majority of charge carriers are electrons that are better mobile charge particles with less mass due to which they can easily accelerate. There are two types: NPN (negative -positive-negative) and PNP (positive-negative-positive). Transistors are powerful devices because of their ability to control the current flowing through a circuit (current controlling device), which is generated by the flow of electrons and holes. Read the following points to know more about transistor: In simpler terms, a transistor is basically a regulator of the flow of electric signals. To resolve this problem, the three American physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley invented a compact-sized and efficient semiconductor device called point-contact transistor at Bell Labs in December.Ī transistor is a kind of semiconductor that is used as a conductor and insulation of electric current or voltage. On this page, we will learn about the following: These tubes were larger, required higher operating voltage, high power consumption meant high heat generation which in turn affected the life of the tube due to its low efficiency. This tube was used to control the electric current. If we read the history of electronic devices, one of the most important components of these devices was a vacuum tube (electron tube).

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