Solid-state electronics means semiconductor electronics: electronic equipment using

semiconductor device A semiconductor device is an electronic component that relies on the electronic properties of a semiconductor material (primarily silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide, as well as organic semiconductors) for its function. Its conductivity li ...

s such as transistors, diodes and integrated circuits (ICs). The term is also used as an adjective for devices in which semiconductor electronics that have no moving parts replace devices with moving parts, such as the solid-state relay in which transistor switches are used in place of a moving-arm electromechanical relay, or the solid-state drive (SSD) a type of

semiconductor memory Semiconductor memory is a digital electronic semiconductor device used for digital data storage, such as computer memory. It typically refers to devices in which data is stored within metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) memory cells on a sili ...

used in computers to replace hard disk drives, which store data on a rotating disk.

History

The term "solid-state" became popular at the beginning of the semiconductor era in the 1960s to distinguish this new technology based on the transistor, in which the electronic action of devices occurred in a

solid state Solid state, or solid matter, is one of the four fundamental states of matter. Solid state may also refer to: Electronics * Solid-state electronics, circuits built of solid materials * Solid state ionics, study of ionic conductors and their u ...

, from previous electronic equipment that used vacuum tubes, in which the electronic action occurred in a gaseous state. A semiconductor device works by controlling an electric current consisting of electrons or holes moving within a solid crystalline piece of semiconducting material such as silicon, while the thermionic vacuum tubes it replaced worked by controlling current conducted by a gas of particles, electrons or ions, moving in a vacuum within a sealed tube. Although the first solid-state electronic device was the cat's whisker detector, a crude semiconductor diode invented around 1904, solid-state electronics started with the invention of the transistor in 1947.Papadopoulos (2013)
Solid-State Electronic Devices: An Introduction
'', p. 11, 81-83 Before that, all electronic equipment used vacuum tubes, because vacuum tubes were the only

electronic component An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are mostly industrial products, available in a singular form and are not ...

s that could '' amplify''—an essential capability in all electronics. The transistor, which was invented by

John Bardeen John Bardeen (; May 23, 1908 – January 30, 1991) was an American physicist and engineer. He is the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the tran ...

and Walter Houser Brattain while working under William Shockley at Bell Laboratories in 1947, could also amplify, and replaced vacuum tubes. The first transistor Hi-Fi system was developed by engineers at GE and demonstrated at the University of Philadelphia in 1955.Sorab K. Ghandhi; Vernon Mathis; Edward Keonjian; Richard Shea; et al. (1957
The World's First Transistor Hi-Fi System
/ref> In terms of commercial production, The Fisher TR-1 was the first "All Transistor" preamplifier, which became available mid-1956.Announcemen
High Fidelity, March 1956
p. 9 In 1961, a company named Transis-tronics released a solid-state amplifier, the TEC S-15.Announcemen
Audio Magazine, Aug 1961
p. 44 The replacement of bulky, fragile, energy-hungry vacuum tubes by transistors in the 1960s and 1970s created a revolution not just in technology but in people's habits, making possible the first truly portable consumer electronics such as the transistor radio, cassette tape player, walkie-talkie and quartz watch, as well as the first practical computers and

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive telephone call, calls over a radio freq ...

s. Other examples of solid state electronic devices are the microprocessor chip,

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...

lamp, solar cell, charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor used in cameras, and semiconductor laser.

References

{{Authority control Electronics Semiconductors Solid state engineering

History

See also

References