A transistor is a semiconductor device that switches and amplifies electronic signals. It has at least three terminals that connect it to an electronic circuit. The transistor was invented in the early 1950s and quickly replaced vacuum tubes in electronic devices. These devices are now an essential component of almost all electronic devices, such as the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer. A CPU transistor is usually part of an integrated circuit, although it can also be purchased individually.
A Central Processing Unit (CPU).
The terminals of a CPU transistor have specific names depending on the type of transistor. The terminals of a single bipolar transistor are called the collector, emitter, and base. The current or voltage applied to the base affects the flow of current from the collector to the emitter.
A CPU.
The voltage at the base of the transistor can be used to turn the current flow from collector to emitter on and off. This type of transistor is a switch and is a common type of CPU transistor called a logic gate. A switch generally does not allow current to flow through it unless the voltage at the base is above a minimum threshold. The base voltage is controlled by other components in the circuit.
A CPU transistor can also be an amplifier. This type of transistor uses the base voltage to control the amount of current that flows through the amplifier. This means that a small voltage change at the base can produce a large voltage difference between the collector and emitter.
Transistors offer significant advantages over vacuum tubes in computers. A CPU transistor is much smaller than its vacuum tube equivalent, allowing computers to be miniaturized. The manufacture of transistors can be more automated than that of vacuum tubes, which means that transistors are cheaper than vacuum tubes.
The first patent for a transistor was filed by Julius Edgar Lilienfeld in 1925, although he did not actually build such a device. Herbert Matare discovered the effects of semiconductors while working on a Doppler radar system in 1942. Technology then progressed, and in 1947, while working at AT&T’s Bell Laboratories, Walter Brattain and John Bardeen discovered that a germanium crystal can amplify an electrical current. Gordon Teal built the first silicon transistor for Texas Instruments in 1954, and the CPU transistor, which is a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor, was first built at Bell Labs in 1960.
CPU transistors are an important component of computers.
