Editing Electronics (section)

==History and development==
{{See also|History of electronic engineering|Timeline of electrical and electronic engineering}}
[[Image:Audion receiver.jpg|thumb|One of the earliest [[Audion]] radio receivers, constructed by De Forest in 1914 ]]

[[Karl Ferdinand Braun]]´s development of the [[crystal detector]], the first [[semiconductor device]], in 1874 and the identification of the [[electron]] in 1897 by [[Sir Joseph John Thomson]], along with the subsequent invention of the [[vacuum tube]] which could [[Amplifier|amplify]] and [[Rectifier|rectify]] small [[Signal|electrical signals]], inaugurated the field of electronics and the electron age.<ref>https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/uniarchiv/unijournal/urvater-der-kommunikationsgesellschaft.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200010/history.cfm|title=This Month in Physics History - October 1897: The Discovery of the Electron |website= American Physical Society |access-date=2018-09-19|archive-date=19 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919171705/https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200010/history.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref> Practical applications started with the invention of the [[diode]] by [[Ambrose Fleming]] and the [[triode]] by [[Lee De Forest]] in the early 1900s, which made the detection of small electrical voltages, such as [[radio signal]]s from a [[radio antenna]], practicable.

[[Vacuum tube]]s (thermionic valves) were the first active [[electronic component]]s which controlled [[Electric current|current]] flow by influencing the flow of individual [[electron]]s, and enabled the construction of equipment that used current amplification and rectification 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 and electronic amplifiers were being used in such diverse applications as long-distance [[telephony]] and the music recording industry.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Guarnieri|first=M.|date=2012|title=The age of vacuum tubes: Early devices and the rise of radio communications|journal=IEEE Ind. Electron. M.|volume=6|issue=1|pages=41–43|doi=10.1109/MIE.2012.2182822|s2cid=23351454}}</ref>

The next big technological step took several decades to appear, when the first working [[point-contact transistor]] was invented by [[John Bardeen]] and [[Walter Houser Brattain]] at Bell Labs in 1947.<ref>{{cite web |title=1947: Invention of the Point-Contact Transistor |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/invention-of-the-point-contact-transistor/ |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=10 August 2019 |archive-date=30 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930151529/https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/invention-of-the-point-contact-transistor/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
However, vacuum tubes continued to play a leading role in the field of [[microwave]] and high power transmission as well as [[television]] receivers until the middle of the 1980s.<ref name="Okamura1994">{{cite book|author=Sōgo Okamura|title=History of Electron Tubes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VHFyngmO95YC&pg=PR4|access-date=5 December 2012|year=1994|publisher=IOS Press|isbn=978-9051991451|page=5|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231220508/http://books.google.com/books?id=VHFyngmO95YC&pg=PR4|archive-date=31 December 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
Since then, [[solid-state electronics|solid-state]] devices have all but completely taken over. Vacuum tubes are still used in some specialist applications such as [[Valve RF amplifier|high power RF amplifiers]], [[cathode-ray tube]]s, specialist audio equipment, [[guitar amplifiers]] and some [[Cavity magnetron|microwave devices]].

In April 1955, the [[IBM 608]] was the first [[IBM]] product to use [[transistor]] circuits without any vacuum tubes and is believed to be the first all-transistorized [[calculator]] to be manufactured for the commercial market.<ref>{{cite book |last= Bashe |first= Charles J.  |title=IBM's Early Computers |url= https://archive.org/details/ibmsearlycompute00bash |url-access= registration |publisher= MIT |year= 1986 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ibmsearlycompute00bash/page/386 386] |isbn= 978-0262022255 |display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pugh |first1=Emerson W. |last2=Johnson |first2=Lyle R. |last3=Palmer |first3=John H. |year=1991 |title=IBM's 360 and early 370 systems |url=https://archive.org/details/ibms360early370s0000pugh |url-access=registration |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0262161237 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ibms360early370s0000pugh/page/34 34] }}</ref> The 608 contained more than 3,000 [[germanium]] transistors. [[Thomas J. Watson Jr.]] ordered all future IBM products to use transistors in their design. From that time on transistors were almost exclusively used for [[Logic gate|computer logic circuits]] and peripheral devices. However, early [[junction transistor]]s were relatively bulky devices that were difficult to manufacture on a [[mass-production]] basis, which limited them to a number of specialised applications.<ref name="Moskowitz">{{cite book |last1=Moskowitz |first1=Sanford L. |title=Advanced Materials Innovation: Managing Global Technology in the 21st century |date=2016 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-0470508923 |page=168 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2STRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 |access-date=22 August 2019 |archive-date=5 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105001645/https://books.google.com/books?id=2STRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[MOSFET]] was invented at Bell Labs between 1955 and 1960.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Huff |first1=Howard |last2=Riordan |first2=Michael |date=2007-09-01 |title=Frosch and Derick: Fifty Years Later (Foreword) |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/2.F02073IF |journal=The Electrochemical Society Interface |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=29 |doi=10.1149/2.F02073IF |issn=1064-8208|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Frosch |first1=C. J. |last2=Derick |first2=L |date=1957 |title=Surface Protection and Selective Masking during Diffusion in Silicon |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1.2428650 |journal=Journal of the Electrochemical Society |language=en |volume=104 |issue=9 |pages=547 |doi=10.1149/1.2428650|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=KAHNG |first=D. |date=1961 |title=Silicon-Silicon Dioxide Surface Device |url=https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |journal=Technical Memorandum of Bell Laboratories|pages=583–596 |doi=10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |isbn=978-981-02-0209-5 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lojek |first=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-540-34258-8 |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |page=321}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ligenza |first1=J.R. |last2=Spitzer |first2=W.G. |date=1960 |title=The mechanisms for silicon oxidation in steam and oxygen |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0022369760902195 |journal=Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids |language=en |volume=14 |pages=131–136 |doi=10.1016/0022-3697(60)90219-5|bibcode=1960JPCS...14..131L |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Lojek1202">{{cite book |last1=Lojek |first1=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=9783540342588 |page=120}}</ref> It was the first truly compact transistor that could be miniaturised and mass-produced for a wide range of uses.<ref name="Moskowitz"/> Its advantages include [[MOSFET scaling|high scalability]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Motoyoshi |first1=M. |s2cid=29105721 |title=Through-Silicon Via (TSV) |journal=Proceedings of the IEEE |date=2009 |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=43–48 |doi=10.1109/JPROC.2008.2007462 |issn=0018-9219}}</ref> affordability,<ref name="computerhistory-digital">{{cite web |title=Tortoise of Transistors Wins the Race – CHM Revolution |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/digital-logic/12/279 |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |access-date=22 July 2019 |archive-date=10 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310142421/https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/digital-logic/12/279 |url-status=live }}</ref> low power consumption, and [[Large-scale integration|high density]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Transistors Keep Moore's Law Alive |url=https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1334068 |access-date=18 July 2019 |work=[[EETimes]] |date=12 December 2018 |archive-date=24 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924091622/https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36 |url-status=live }}</ref> It revolutionized the [[electronics industry]],<ref name="Chan">{{cite book |last1=Chan |first1=Yi-Jen |title=Studies of InAIAs/InGaAs and GaInP/GaAs heterostructure FET's for high speed applications |date=1992 |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sV4eAQAAMAAJ |page=1 |quote=The Si MOSFET has revolutionized the electronics industry and as a result impacts our daily lives in almost every conceivable way. |access-date=10 August 2019 |archive-date=20 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220105009/https://books.google.com/books?id=sV4eAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Grant">{{cite book |last1=Grant |first1=Duncan Andrew |last2=Gowar |first2=John |title=Power MOSFETS: theory and applications |date=1989 |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |isbn=978-0471828679 |page=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZiZTAAAAMAAJ |quote=The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) is the most commonly used active device in the very large-scale integration of digital integrated circuits (VLSI). During the 1970s these components revolutionized electronic signal processing, control systems and computers. |access-date=10 August 2019 |archive-date=30 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730231805/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZiZTAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> becoming the most widely used electronic device in the world.<ref name="computerhistory-transistor">{{cite web |date=4 December 2013 |title=Who Invented the Transistor? |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/who-invented-the-transistor/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213221601/https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/who-invented-the-transistor/ |archive-date=13 December 2013 |access-date=20 July 2019 |website=[[Computer History Museum]]}}</ref><ref name="Golio">{{cite book |last1=Golio |first1=Mike |last2=Golio |first2=Janet |title=RF and Microwave Passive and Active Technologies |date=2018 |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |isbn=978-1420006728 |page=18-2 <!-- hyphenated single page #, not a span of pages -->|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCj9jxSVQKIC&pg=SA18-PA2 |access-date=10 August 2019 |archive-date=31 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731165610/https://books.google.com/books?id=MCj9jxSVQKIC&pg=SA18-PA2 |url-status=live }}</ref> The MOSFET is the basic element in most modern electronic equipment.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Daniels|first1=Lee A.|title=Dr. Dawon Kahng, 61, Inventor in Field of Solid-State Electronics|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/28/nyregion/dr-dawon-kahng-61-inventor-in-field-of-solid-state-electronics.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=1 April 2017|date=28 May 1992|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726024950/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/28/nyregion/dr-dawon-kahng-61-inventor-in-field-of-solid-state-electronics.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Colinge2016">{{cite book |last1=Colinge |first1=Jean-Pierre |last2=Greer |first2=James C. |title=Nanowire Transistors: Physics of Devices and Materials in One Dimension |date=2016 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1107052406 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FvjUCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |access-date=17 September 2019 |archive-date=17 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317123719/https://books.google.com/books?id=FvjUCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As the complexity of circuits grew, problems arose.<ref name="The History of the Integrated Circuit"/> One problem was the size of the circuit. A complex circuit like a computer was dependent on speed. If the components were large, the wires interconnecting them must be long. The electric signals took time to go through the circuit, thus slowing the computer.<ref name="The History of the Integrated Circuit">{{cite web|title=The History of the Integrated Circuit|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/integrated_circuit/history/|publisher=Nobelprize.org|access-date=21 Apr 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629102838/https://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/integrated_circuit/history/ |archive-date=29 Jun 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 (monolith) of semiconductor material. The circuits could be made smaller, and the manufacturing process could be automated. This led to the idea of integrating all components on a single-crystal [[silicon]] wafer, which led to small-scale integration (SSI) in the early 1960s, and then medium-scale integration (MSI) in the late 1960s, followed by [[VLSI]]. In 2008, billion-transistor processors became commercially available.<ref>{{cite web |title=Intel to deliver first computer chip with two billion transistors |url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/intel-to-deliver-first-computer-chip-with-two-billion-transistors-20080205-1q88.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=August 12, 2022 |language=en |date=5 February 2008 |archive-date=12 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812072943/https://www.smh.com.au/technology/intel-to-deliver-first-computer-chip-with-two-billion-transistors-20080205-1q88.html |url-status=live }}</ref>