Bipolar Junction Transistor and Its Benefits

The transistor is a semiconductor device, which can amplify the electronic signals, such as radio and television signal. It is an important ingredient of every electronic circuit. 

Transistor is a three terminal device, such as Base, Emitter, and Collector. It can be operating by three configurations, such as common base, common emitter, and common collector. According to the configuration mode it can be use for voltage as well as current amplification. The concept of transfer of resistance has given by the name of transfer resistor.

There are two types of transistors, such as unipolar junction transistor and bipolar junction transistor. In uni-polar transistor the current conduction is only due to one type of carriers, as majority carriers. The current conduction in bipolar transistor is because of both the types of charge carriers are holes and electrons. Therefore this is called bipolar junction transistor.

The bipolar junction transistor has two types, 

1. N-p-n type
2. P-n-p type

Principle of Bias Transistor:

To operate the transistor properly as an amplifier, it is necessary to bias correctly the two p-n junctions with external voltages. Depending upon the external bias voltage polarity usage and the transistor works in one three regions. 

1. Active region
2. Cut-off region
3. Saturation region

Construction of a transistor: 

The transistor can be constructing by use of the five basic techniques and accordingly they are classified as,
1. Grown type
2. Alloy type
3. Electro chemically etched type
4. Diffusion type

Grown Type: 

This technique is used to form the two p-n junctions of a grown-junction transistor. A single crystal is drawn from a melt of silicon or germanium whose impurity concentration is change during the crystal drawing operation.

Alloy Type: 

This type of construction is p-n-p transistor. Such construction is also known as fused construction. Here the center section is a thin wafer of n-type material. The collector is made larger than the emitter to withstand the heavy current and power dissipation at the collector base junction.

Electronically Etched Type:

In this technique, etching depression is made on opposite sides of the semiconductor wafer to reduce the thickness of the base region. The electro-chemically etching devices are also referring to the surface-barrier transistor. However these devices are no longer of commercial importance.

Diffusion Type:

Diffusion is a process, by which a heavy concentration of particles will diffuse into the surrounding region of lesser concentration. The primary difference between the diffusion and the alloy process is the fact that liquefaction is not reach in the diffusion process. Heat is applied to the diffusion process only to increase the activity of the elements can be involved.

Transistors & Their Importance

A transistor is a small electronic device that can cause changes in a large electrical output signal by small changes in a small input signal. That is, a weak input signal can be amplified by a transistor. A transistor consists of three layers of silicon or germanium semiconductor material. Impurities are added to each layer to create a specific electrical positive or negative charged behavior. "P" is for a positive charged layer and "N" is for a negative charged layer. Transistors are both NPN or PNP in the configuration of the layers. There is no main difference except the polarity of voltages that need to be applied to make the transistor operate.

The transistor is the building block for modern electronic devices and preceded radios, calculators, computers, and other modern electronic systems. Inventors were actually awarded the Nobel Prize in 1956 for inventing the transistor. It can be argued that it is one of the most important inventions of the 20th century. In 2009, the first transistor invented by Bell Labs was named an IEEE Milestone. There are over a billion individual transistors that are produced each year (known as discrete transistors).

However, a large majority are produced in integrated circuits along with diodes, resistors, capacitors, and other electronic components, comprising electronic circuits. Transistors can be used in a quantity of anywhere from 20 in logic gates to 3 billion in a microprocessor. Because of the low cost, flexibility, and reliability associated with the transistor, it has become extremely widely produced. To put things into perspective, there were 60 million transistors built for every person on Earth back in 2002. Now over two decades later, that number only continues to grow.

The two types of transistors are the bipolar transistor and the field-effect transistor, which have slight variations in terms of how they are utilized in a circuit. Transistors are usually used as electronic switches for both high-power and low-power applications. They can also be used as amplifiers in that a small change in voltage changes the small current through the base of the transistor. Some key advantages of transistors over other products are small size, minimal weight, no power consumption by a cathode heater, a warm-up period for cathode heaters required after power application, higher reliability, greater physical ruggedness, extremely long life, and insensitivity to mechanical shock and vibration, between others.

Top manufacturers for transistors are Maxim Integrated, Micro semi Power Products Group, Amsyx, ON Semiconductor, Panasonic Electronic Components and Toshiba.

If you Google for best transistor components you will get many one stop shops for any transistor parts you are looking for, regardless of who manufactures it or what the purpose is.

A/D Converter and Its Needs

What is A/D Converter?

A/D Converter is Electronic integrated circuit which transforms signal from analog (continuous) to digital (discrete) form. Analog signals are directly measurable quantities and Digital signals contain only two states and for digital computer, we refer to binary states 0 or 1.

An Analog to Digital Converter is a very useful feature that converts an analog voltage on a pin to a digital number. The input to an analog to digital converter (A/D) consists of a voltage that varies among a theoretically infinite number of values. After converting from the analog world to the digital world we can begin to use electronics to interface to the analog world around us. Analog Devices A/D converters feature a variety of breakthrough capabilities enabling new system architectures that meet customer needs. Low powers, low cost and compact design, are required by today’s systems.

Amsyx offers the industry’s largest range of A/D converter products that design engineers depend on for reliable performance in the harshest environments, both on Earth and in space. If you are looking for high quality and improving efficiency reliability while lowering cost and consider using the industry’s number one A/D converter products from Analog Devices.

Why A/D Converter is needed?

Microprocessors can only perform complex processing on digitized signals. When signals are in digital form they are less susceptible to the deleterious effects of additive noise. A/D Converter provides a link between the analog world of transducers and the digital world of signal processing and data handling.

Application of ADC: - A/D Converter are used virtually everywhere where an analog signal has to be processed, stored and transported in digital form. Some examples of A/D Converter usage are digital volt meters, thermocouples, cell phone, and digital oscilloscope. Micro controllers commonly use 8, 10, 12 and 16 bit A/D Converters,

16bit analog to digital converter

When an A/D Converter chip returns 16 bits, it is probably better than a 12-bit A/D converter, but not always.  The simple fact that a converter returns 16-bits says little about the quality of those bits. It is hard to simply state "the resolution" of a given device.

What we like to do, is provide actual measured data that tells you the resolution of a device including typical inherent noise.16-bit A/D converter designed for digitizing high frequency and wide dynamic range signals up to input frequencies of 700MHz. The input range of the A/D Converter can be optimized with the PGA front end.

Integrated Circuit Features and Availability

An integrated circuit, or IC for short form, is a combination of electronic circuits on a tiny plate of semiconductor material and functions as the core part for all types of electronic equipment in use world widely nowadays. In fact, integrated circuits have made revolution in the field of electronics. In 21^st century computers, mobile phones, and other digital appliances and instruments are a mainstream essential. They are present in every aspect of people's daily routine and it can be said that 21^st century world as we know it would nothing without the presence of these mostly used devices. The latest age is made possible due to the reliable-cost of these circuits, which makes such devices cost-effectively possible.

Technology has advanced considerably over the years, which is important news for the electronics revolution. Presently, the most superior integrated circuits are microprocessors, which have the tendency to control everything from computers to cell phones to digital microwave ovens. Along with this, digital memory chips are also very central to the modern information culture of today. The cost of developing a composite integrated circuit is in fact high, but the cost is reduced greatly when production is extended across millions of units. ICs have slowly become slighter, which allows high circuitry to be packed on each small chip. Up to number of transistors and other electronic components can be adjusted into an area that is no larger than a fingernail. The size of each circuit was near about 100 nanometers in 2008, and is now at ten times lesser in 2013.

Nowadays electronic devices have become an essential part of our daily living. Devices such as cell phones, computers. PDAs, laptops, music players, and many more things, have become an important part of our lives making the idea of sustaining without their aid seem to be simply impractical. Whenever there is any break down with any of our beloved devices, at times we are able to get it repaired by minor changes and software updates; however, many times we are required to get a defective part replaced.

When looking to buy replacement parts, the main concerns for most of us are accessibility, authenticity and cost. Even though finding an electronic parts store may not be quite hard, finding an appropriate store can be. Especially when looking to buy parts for old models of electronic devices such as iPhone 2G parts, 3G parts, the accessibility can be the major worry. To add to the despair, fake electronics' market is supplying fake substitute parts in bulk to every part of the world, making the task of finding authentic parts extremely difficult. In addition, if you buy components such as iPod classic parts from company outlets, the prices are always way too much. All these factors make the task of finding suitable parts awfully difficult.

Digital Integrated Circuits - A Brief Introduction

The circuits in this section create use of IC, or integrated circuit, components. Such components are really networks of consistent components manufactured on a single wafer of semiconducting substance. Integrated circuits provide a huge number of pre-engineered functions are offered at very little price, benefitting students, hobbyists and specialized circuit designers alike. Mainly integrated circuits offer the same functionality as "discrete" semiconductor circuits at superior levels of trustworthiness and at a small part of the cost.

When construction digital circuits via integrated circuit "chips," it is extremely not compulsory that you make use of a breadboard among power supply "rail" connections beside the length. These are sets of holes in the breadboard that are electrically common along the entire length of the panel. Attach one to the positive terminal of a battery, and the further to the negative terminal, and DC power will be presented to any area of the breadboard by means of connection throughout short jumper wires

IC design can be separated into the extensive categories of digital and analog IC design. Digital IC design is to construct components such as microprocessors, FPGAs, memories (RAM, ROM, and flash) and digital ASICs. Digital design focuses on valid rightness, maximizing circuit density, and placing circuits so that clock and timing signals are routed proficiently. Analog IC design also has specializations in power IC design and RF IC design. Analog IC plan is used in the design of linear regulators, phase locked loops, op-amps, , oscillators and active filters. Analog design is more anxious with the physics of the semiconductor devices such as, matching, gain, resistance and power dissipation. Fidelity of analog signal amplification and filtering is usually critical and as a result, analog ICs use superior area active devices as compare to digital designs and are frequently not as much of dense in circuitry.

Modern ICs are extremely complex. A large chip, as of 2009 has close to 1 billion transistors. The set of laws for what can and cannot be manufactured are also tremendously difficult. An IC process as of 2006 may well have more than 600 policy. Furthermore, since the manufacturing process itself is not absolutely predictable, designers must account for its unchangeable nature. The complexity of modern IC design, as well as market pressure to manufacture designs quickly, has led to the extensive use of  mechanized design tools in the IC design procedure. In short, the plan of an IC using EDA software is the design, test, and affirmation of the commands that the IC is to bring out.

Understanding the Basic Aspects of Electronics

To realize the use of electronic components, it is vital to first have a grip on the basics of electronics. Electronics is the study of how the flow of electrons can be manipulated to in a specific direction and at certain strength in order to cause desired reactions on mechanical devices. This process has been utilized for years to boost the efficiency of the world around us and how we relate with it. Even though electronics has advanced enormously, the basic components used in the field have stayed the same; each small piece has its purpose and cannot be ignored.

Some of the major electronic components are:

Resistors - A resistor is a component that is used to resist the flow of electricity, allowing only the preferred amount to flow through. These can be very helpful in allowing a control knob to work, because the setting chosen will relate to the resistance level. Resistor strength is measured in OHMs, but since there is generally a high resistance level, the prefixes kilo(k) and Mega(M) are used to define the strength. The strength is displayed on the component by using a set of colors that each relate to a number between 1 and 9. Three colors displayed on the resistor can be added together to determine the strength: The first two colors determine the first and second digits, while the third provides the number of zeros.

Capacitors - Capacitors store a certain amount of electricity that a device can use when needed. Many devices require a quick burst of energy that could not be achieved without a backup energy source. The capacitor strength is measured in farads(F) and uses the prefixes micro (millionth), nano (thousand-millionth), and pico (million-millionth) to measure its strength. These components are very small, like the resistors, the capacitors are color coded to show the strength.

Diodes and Transistors - These both deal with modifying the flow of the electrical current. Diodes, an example of which is a Light Emitting Diode (LED), serve as the "train tracks" for the current, allowing it to flow in one specific direction and maintain certain strength. Transistors, which can either be NPN or PNP, are used to control or amplify the current to the desired strength. Both diodes and transistors are important electrical components, and allow electronics to run efficiently.

These components may be small, but without them virtually every electronic device we use would be valueless. If you are new to electronics, it is better to leave repairs to a professional, but with a little experience, it is not far-fetched to be able to open up electronic devices and replace or modify these parts. It may be overwhelming at first, but learning the basics of electronics is like learning to ride a bike: Once you have the process perfected, you'll never forget it.

To find out more about these, you can visit online electronic component store, where professionals can walk you through each piece and its purpose.