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Electronics: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Electronics
In 1874, Karl Ferdinand Braun discovered that a crystal could detect electrical signals, creating the first semiconductor device and planting the seed for an entire age of technology. This single observation, made decades before the electron was even identified, would eventually power the modern world. The field of electronics began not with a grand invention, but with a quiet realization that certain materials could control the flow of electricity in ways that metals could not. By 1897, Sir Joseph John Thomson had identified the electron, giving scientists the vocabulary to understand the invisible particles that would soon be manipulated to create radio, television, and computers. The vacuum tube, developed shortly after, became the first active electronic component, allowing engineers to amplify and rectify small electrical signals. This breakthrough enabled the construction of equipment that used current amplification to give us radio, television, radar, long-distance telephony, and much more. The early growth of electronics was rapid, and by the 1920s, commercial radio broadcasting and telecommunications were becoming widespread, with electronic amplifiers being used in diverse applications ranging from long-distance telephony to the music recording industry.
The Transistor Revolution
The year 1947 marked a turning point when John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain invented the first working point-contact transistor at Bell Labs, a device that would eventually replace the bulky vacuum tubes that had dominated the field for decades. While vacuum tubes continued to play a leading role in microwave and high power transmission until the middle of the 1980s, the transistor offered a new era of compactness and efficiency. In April 1955, the IBM 608 became the first IBM product to use transistor circuits without any vacuum tubes, believed to be the first all-transistorized calculator manufactured for the commercial market. This machine contained more than 3,000 germanium transistors, and Thomas J. Watson Jr. ordered all future IBM products to use transistors in their design. However, early junction transistors were relatively bulky devices that were difficult to manufacture on a mass-production basis, which limited them to a number of specialized applications. The true revolution arrived with the invention of the MOSFET at Bell Labs between 1955 and 1960, the first truly compact transistor that could be miniaturized and mass-produced for a wide range of uses. Its advantages included high scalability, affordability, low power consumption, and high density, revolutionizing the electronics industry and becoming the most widely used electronic device in the world. The MOSFET is the basic element in most modern electronic equipment, with an estimated 13 sextillion MOSFETs having been manufactured between 1960 and 2018.
Common questions
When did Karl Ferdinand Braun discover the first semiconductor device?
Karl Ferdinand Braun discovered that a crystal could detect electrical signals in 1874, creating the first semiconductor device. This observation occurred decades before the electron was identified and planted the seed for the entire age of technology.
Who invented the first working point-contact transistor and when?
John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain invented the first working point-contact transistor in 1947 at Bell Labs. This device eventually replaced the bulky vacuum tubes that had dominated the field for decades.
What year did the IBM 608 become the first all-transistorized calculator?
The IBM 608 became the first IBM product to use transistor circuits without any vacuum tubes in April 1955. This machine contained more than 3,000 germanium transistors and was the first all-transistorized calculator manufactured for the commercial market.
How many MOSFETs have been manufactured between 1960 and 2018?
An estimated 13 sextillion MOSFETs have been manufactured between 1960 and 2018. The MOSFET is the basic element in most modern electronic equipment and the most widely used electronic device in the world.
What was the United States global share of semiconductor manufacturing capacity in 2022?
The United States global share of semiconductor manufacturing capacity fell to 12% in 2022. This decline occurred over three decades as the industry shifted overwhelmingly to East Asia, starting with the initial movement of microchip mass-production there in the 1970s.
Which software programs are popular for electronic design automation?
Popular electronic design automation software programs include NI Multisim, Cadence, EAGLE PCB, and Altium. These tools allow engineers to design circuits using premanufactured building blocks such as power supplies, semiconductors, and integrated circuits.
As the complexity of circuits grew, problems arose regarding the size of the circuit and the speed of electric signals traveling through long wires. The invention of the integrated circuit by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce solved this problem by making all the components and the chip out of the same block of semiconductor material. This innovation led to the idea of integrating all components on a single-crystal silicon wafer, which led to small-scale integration in the early 1960s, and then medium-scale integration in the late 1960s, followed by VLSI. By 2008, billion-transistor processors became commercially available, marking a milestone in the miniaturization of computing power. The integration of components allowed for the automation of the manufacturing process, making circuits smaller and faster. This evolution from discrete components to integrated circuits enabled the development of complex systems like mobile phones and computers, where the design and development of electronic systems had to satisfy specified requirements of the user. The process of defining and developing complex electronic devices to satisfy these requirements became a multi-disciplinary challenge, covering everything from the design and development of an electronic system to assuring its proper function, service life, and disposal.
The Binary Mind
Digital circuits are electric circuits based on discrete voltage levels, using a binary system with two voltage levels labeled 0 and 1 to indicate logical status. Often logic 0 will be a lower voltage and referred to as Low, while logic 1 is referred to as High, though some systems use the reverse definition or are current based. The definition of the levels as 0 or 1 is arbitrary, yet this binary logic forms the basis of all digital computers and microprocessor devices. These circuits range from simple logic gates to large integrated circuits, employing millions of such gates to perform complex calculations. Highly integrated devices such as memory chips, microprocessors, and microcontrollers rely on digital logic circuits using transistors such as MOSFETs in the electronic logic gates to generate binary states. While ternary logic with three states has been studied and some prototype computers made, they have not gained any significant practical acceptance. Universally, computers and digital signal processors are constructed with digital logic circuits, employing components like adders, flip-flops, counters, registers, and multiplexers to process information. This shift from analog to digital processing has become the dominant paradigm, with modern circuits often using a hybrid approach that uses analog circuits at the front end of a device receiving an analog signal, and then uses digital processing using microprocessor techniques thereafter.
The Global Chip War
The electronics industry consists of various branches, with the central driving force being the semiconductor industry, which has annual sales of over 481 billion dollars as of 2018. In the 1960s, U.S. manufacturers were unable to compete with Japanese companies such as Sony and Hitachi who could produce high-quality goods at lower prices. By the 1980s, however, U.S. manufacturers became the world leaders in semiconductor development and assembly. However, during the 1990s and subsequently, the industry shifted overwhelmingly to East Asia, a process begun with the initial movement of microchip mass-production there in the 1970s, as plentiful, cheap labor, and increasing technological sophistication became widely available there. Over three decades, the United States' global share of semiconductor manufacturing capacity fell, from 37% in 1990 to 12% in 2022. America's pre-eminent semiconductor manufacturer, Intel Corporation, fell far behind its subcontractor Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in manufacturing technology. By that time, Taiwan had become the world's leading source of advanced semiconductors, followed by South Korea, the United States, Japan, Singapore, and China. Important semiconductor industry facilities, which often are subsidiaries of a leading producer based elsewhere, also exist in Europe, notably the Netherlands, Southeast Asia, South America, and Israel, creating a complex global network of production and innovation.
The Heat and The Noise
Heat generated by electronic circuitry must be dissipated to prevent immediate failure and improve long term reliability, a challenge that has driven the development of various cooling techniques. Heat dissipation is mostly achieved by passive conduction and convection, with means to achieve greater dissipation including heat sinks and fans for air cooling, and other forms of computer cooling such as water cooling. These techniques use convection, conduction, and radiation of heat energy to manage the thermal output of increasingly powerful devices. Electronic noise, defined as unwanted disturbances superposed on a useful signal that tend to obscure its information content, is associated with all electronic circuits. Noise is not the same as signal distortion caused by a circuit, and may be electromagnetically or thermally generated, which can be decreased by lowering the operating temperature of the circuit. Other types of noise, such as shot noise, cannot be removed as they are due to limitations in physical properties. The management of these physical constraints has become a critical aspect of electronic design, influencing everything from the choice of materials to the layout of circuits on a printed circuit board. As devices become more compact and powerful, the challenge of managing heat and noise becomes increasingly difficult, requiring innovative solutions to ensure the reliability and performance of modern electronic systems.
The Silent Assembly
Many different methods of connecting components have been used over the years, evolving from point to point wiring with components attached to wooden breadboards to the sophisticated printed circuit boards used today. Early electronics often used point to point wiring with components attached to wooden breadboards to construct circuits, while cordwood construction and wire wrap were other methods used. Most modern-day electronics now use printed circuit boards made of materials such as FR-4 and FR-2, with electrical components generally mounted to PCBs using through-hole or surface mount. The evolution of packaging methods has been driven by the need for miniaturization and mass production, allowing for the creation of complex electronic systems that fit into devices as small as mobile phones. Health and environmental concerns associated with electronics assembly have gained increased attention in recent years, prompting the industry to develop safer and more sustainable manufacturing processes. The design of electronic systems now relies heavily on computer-aided design software programs, including schematic capture programs and printed circuit board design programs, with popular names in the EDA software world including NI Multisim, Cadence, EAGLE PCB, and Altium. These tools allow engineers to design circuits using premanufactured building blocks such as power supplies, semiconductors, and integrated circuits, facilitating the development of complex electronic devices that satisfy specified requirements of the user.