Editing Transistor (section)

===Limitations===
Transistors may have the following limitations:

* They lack the higher [[electron mobility]] afforded by the vacuum of vacuum tubes, which is desirable for high-power, high-frequency operation{{snd}} such as that used in some over-the-air [[television transmitter]]s and in [[travelling-wave tube]]s used as amplifiers in some satellites
* Transistors and other solid-state devices are susceptible to damage from very brief electrical and thermal events, including [[electrostatic discharge]] in handling. Vacuum tubes are electrically much more rugged.
* They are sensitive to radiation and [[cosmic ray]]s (special [[radiation hardening|radiation-hardened]] chips are used for spacecraft devices).
* In audio applications, transistors lack the lower-harmonic distortion{{snd}} the so-called [[tube sound]]{{snd}} which is characteristic of vacuum tubes, and is preferred by some.<ref name=Veen1>{{Cite conference
 |last        = van der Veen
 |first       = M.
 |title       = Universal system and output transformer for valve amplifiers
 |book-title   = 118th AES Convention, Barcelona, Spain
 |year        = 2005
 |url         = http://www.mennovanderveen.nl/nl/download/download_3.pdf
 |url-status     = live
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20091229114846/http://www.mennovanderveen.nl/nl/download/download_3.pdf
 |archive-date = December 29, 2009
|df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>