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 (181-200 of 334)

1. Introduction to Electronics

   17 Apr 2020 | | Contributor(s):: Center for E3S, Aaron Ragsdale

   Aaron Ragsdale, a former Master's student and researcher at Stanford University, leads an introductory course on common components, devices and elementary design techniques. This course consists of four modules: 1: Fundamental Variables & Electrical Components 2: Circuit...

2. Investigation of the Electrical Characteristics of Triple-Gate FinFETs and Silicon-Nanowire FETs

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   08 Aug 2006 | | Contributor(s):: Monica Taba, Gerhard Klimeck

   Electrical characteristics of various Fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) and silicon-nanowires were analyzed and compared using a modified three-dimensional self-consistent quantum-mechanical simulator in order to investigate device performance. FinFETs have been proposed to fulfill the...

3. IWCN 2021: Multiscale Modeling and Simulation of Advanced Photovoltaic Devices

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   13 Jul 2021 | | Contributor(s):: Yongjie Zou, Reza Vatan Meidanshahi, Raghuraj Hathwar, Stephen M. Goodnick

   The introduction of new materials, device concepts and nanotechnology-based solutions to achieve high efficiency and low cost in photovoltaic (PV) devices requires modeling and simulation well beyond the current state of the art. New materials and heterojunction interfaces require atomistic...

4. Journey Along the Carbon Road

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   02 Mar 2012 | | Contributor(s):: Zhihong Chen

   I will discuss two distinct topics: In the first part of my talk I will present results on carbon nanotubes focusing on high performance computing with the aim to replace silicon in logic device applications. Specifically, the ballistic transport regime that has been reached with the shortest...

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

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   12 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. Keithley 4200-SCS Lecture 06: Troubleshooting

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

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

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

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

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

    Theory of Operation and Measurement Overview

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

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

    Measurement Techniques and Optimization

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

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

    Measurement Techniques and Optimization

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

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

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

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

17. Keithley 4200-SCS: KITE Demo

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

18. Laser Cooling of Solids

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    06 Oct 2005 | | Contributor(s):: Massoud Kaviany

    Enhanced laser cooling of ion doped nanocrystalline powders (e.g., Yb3+: Y2O3) can be achieved by enhancing the anti-Stokes, off-resonance absorption, which is proportional to the three design-controlled factors, namely, dopant concentration, pumping field energy, and anti-Stokes transition rate....

19. Lecture 10: Interface Damage & Negative Bias Temperature Instability

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    29 Jul 2009 | | Contributor(s):: Muhammad A. Alam

    Outline:Background informationNBTI interpreted by R-D modelThe act of measurement and observed quantityNBTI vs. Light-induced DegradationPossibility of Degradation-free TransistorsConclusions

20. Lecture 1: Percolation and Reliability of Electronic Devices

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    29 Jul 2009 | | Contributor(s):: Muhammad A. Alam