Tags: devices

Description

On June 30, 1948, AT&T Bell Labs unveiled the transitor to the world, creating a spark of explosive economic growth that would lead into the Information Age. William Shockley led a team of researchers, including Walter Brattain and John Bardeen, who invented the device. Like the existing triode vacuum tube device, the transistor could amplify signals and switch currents on and off, but the transistor was smaller, cheaper, and more efficient. Moreover, it could be integrated with millions of other transistors onto a single chip, creating the integrated circuit at the heart of modern computers.

Today, most transistors are being manufactured with a minimum feature size of 60-90nm--roughly 200-300 atoms. As the push continues to make devices even smaller, researchers must account for quantum mechanical effects in the device behavior. With fewer and fewer atoms, the positions of impurities and other irregularities begin to matter, and device reliability becomes an issue. So rather than shrink existing devices, many researchers are working on entirely new devices, based on carbon nanotubes, spintronics, molecular conduction, and other nanotechnologies.

Learn more about transistors from the many resources on this site, listed below. Use our simulation tools to simulate performance characteristics for your own devices.

Resources (81-100 of 334)

  1. 2011 NCN@Purdue Summer School: Electronics from the Bottom Up

    20 Jul 2011 |

    click on image for larger versionAlumni Discussion Group: LinkedIn

  2. The History of Semiconductor Heterostructures Research: From Early Double Heterostructure Concept to Modern Quantum Dot Structures

    11 Jul 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Zhores I. Alferov

    It would be very difficult today to imagine solid-state physics without semiconductor heterostructures. Semiconductor heterostructures and especially double heterostructures, including quantum wells, quantum wires and quantum dots, currently comprise the object of investigation of two thirds of...

  3. Quantitative Modeling and Simulation of Quantum Dots

    18 Apr 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Muhammad Usman

    Quantum dots grown by self-assembly process are typically constructed by 50,000 to 5,000,000 structural atoms which confine a small, countable number of extra electrons or holes in a space that is comparable in size to the electron wavelength. Under such conditions quantum dots can be interpreted...

  4. The Elusive Spin Transistor

    11 Apr 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Supriyo Datta

    This presentation is a short introductory tutorial on spin-transistors.

  5. Control of Spin Precession in a Datta-Das Transistor Structure

    11 Apr 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Hyun Cheol Koo

    Transistors Switch onto Spin Using the spin of an electron in addition to, or instead of, the charge properties is believed to have many benefits in terms of speed, power-cost, and integration density over conventional electronic circuits. At the heart of the field of spintronics has been a...

  6. [Illinois] ECE 398: Electronic and Photonic Devices

    07 Feb 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Kent D Choquette

    Fall Semester, 2010 A first course on active and passive photonic devices and applications. Optical processes in dielectric and semiconductor materials discussed including waveguide propagation, confinement, electrical junctions, and emission/absorption. Active and passive photonic components...

  7. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 12: Ultra-fast I-V for Pulsed and Transient Characterization

    24 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

  8. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 01: Introduction - System Overview - DC I-V Source Measurement

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

    Introduction to Device Characterization -System Overview: System Architecture, Hardware Features and Software Features -Precision DC I-V Source-Measure Features and Concepts.

  9. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 02: Basics of Keithley Interactive Test Environment (KITE)

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

  10. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 03: More KITE Setup and Features

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

  11. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 04: Speed and Timing Considerations

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

  12. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 05: Low Current and High Resistance Measurements

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

  13. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 06: Troubleshooting

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

  14. Keithley 4200-SCS: KITE Demo

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

  15. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 07: KCON Utility Overview

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

  16. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 08: 4210 CVU Instrument Module - Overview

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

    Theory of Operation and Measurement Overview

  17. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 09: 4210 CVU Instrument Module - Measurement Techniques I

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

    Measurement Techniques and Optimization

  18. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 10: 4210 CVU Instrument Module - Measurement Techniques II

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

    Measurement Techniques and Optimization

  19. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 11: 4210 CVU Instrument Module - Troubleshooting

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

  20. Device Characterization with the Keithley 4200-SCS

    20 Jan 2011 | | Contributor(s):: Lee Stauffer

    This training session is based on the Keithley 4200-SCS Semiconductor Characterization System. It is intended for beginning to intermediate users. It covers basic concepts, both of the instrument, as well as general measurement considerations.