mainly on its surface. The surface states of a
semiconductor
shield the material from penetration by an electric field.
These are my analogies, like a solution in
search of a problem.
Therefore, I smile, wrinkle my forehead,
and basically don’t much care whether everyone
understands me.
I’m not going to make it easy for anyone to get under my
skin.
The first transistor was a point-contact, germanium crystal doped
with “certain impurities.” Shockley, Brattain, and
Bardeen were not the first to propose a solid-state transistor,
and German physicists independently invented the same thing only
months after. John R. Pierce, who supervised Bardeen, Brattain,
and Shockley at Bell Labs, coined the term transistor in
comparison to a property of the vacuum tube, transconductance.
In analog devices, transistors act as amplifiers. In digital
electronic devices, transistors act as switches. The transistor
can also act as a rectifier with a very low voltage drop.
The first transistor was a point-contact, germanium crystal doped with “certain impurities.” Shockley, Brattain, and Bardeen were not the first to propose a solid-state transistor, and German physicists independently invented the same thing only months after. John R. Pierce, who supervised Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley at Bell Labs, coined the term transistor in comparison to a property of the vacuum tube, transconductance.
In analog devices, transistors act as amplifiers. In digital electronic devices, transistors act as switches. The transistor can also act as a rectifier with a very low voltage drop.
See also in The book of science:
Readings on wikipedia: