At one time a transistor was called a radio receiver, but the speech in our article will not be about a radio receiver. So what is a transistor and how does it work.
There is such a class of materials, for their propertiescalled semiconductors. Their distinctive feature is conductivity - they can be both electrical conductors and dielectrics, i.e. insulators and not conduct electric current.
Here such material is used for manufacture of the transistor - the semiconductor device widely applied in the industry and serving as a basis of almost all modern electronics.
Not touching manufacturing technology, typestransistors, their applications, just note that there are transistors of different types, for example, npn transistor. This name he received because of the material used and the type of conductivity. What has been said is still not enough to go deep into the manufacturing technology and the variety of transistors.
How does the transistor work?It is designed to control the electric current, it is structurally manufactured in a metal or plastic casing and has three outputs, called an emitter, a base, a collector. The name of the conclusions already speaks of their appointment: the emitter emits electrons, the base is controlled by them, the collector collects them. All these processes occur inside the transistor.
To understand how the transistor works, consider a much simpler example - a water tap.
He also has three conclusions - one by one comesin the tap, otherwise poured out of the tap, the third is a valve that controls the operation of the crane. When the valve is open, water flows freely through the tap, when the valve is closed, water does not flow. This is an imitation of one of the options for how the transistor works. This mode of operation is called a key mode - the transistor is open - an electric current flows or is closed, then no current flows. To open the transistor on the base voltage is applied, if there is voltage, then the transistor is open, if not, it is closed. Everything happens, as in a water tap, the valve is open - water flows, the valve is closed - there is no water.
Above we considered the operation of a transistor, whenit is used as a key: either closed or opened. However, there are other modes of operation. Again, as an example, consider a water tap. If you slightly open the valve, the tap water will flow constantly, and the water pressure will be determined by how much we opened the tap.
Approximately the same mode of operation is andtransistor. A voltage is applied to its base, it opens, and current flows through it. By changing the value of the voltage on the base, it is possible to regulate the amount of current passing through the transistor. A complete analogy with the valve position on the tap: more open - more water flows (ie current for the transistor); less open - less water flows (current for the transistor). This mode of operation of the transistor is called amplifying, when using a small voltage applied to the base, it is possible to control a significant current that is removed from the collector.
In conclusion, it should be noted that transistors canbe of different types, everything is determined by the material used in the manufacture. They can differ in power, they can control and pass through themselves significant fluxes of electric current. Transistors can be of different design. There are other modes of operation of transistors, which differ from those considered. But the basic idea of how the transistor works is given above.
All of the above is about, but stillallows you to understand the operation of the transistor. In fact, the work of the transistor is much more complicated. There are special parameters that you can use to calculate formulas and set the necessary mode of operation, but this is a completely different topic for a conversation and for another article.
