Electronics

Electronics comprises the physics, engineering, technology and applications that deal with the
emission, flow and control of electrons in vacuum and matter.[1]
Electronics is widely used in information processing, telecommunication, and signal processing.
The ability of electronic devices to act as switches makes digital information-processing possible.
Interconnection technologies such as circuit boards, electronics packaging technology, and other
varied forms of communication infrastructure complete circuit functionality and transform the
mixed electronic components into a regular working system, called an electronic system;
examples are computers or control systems. An electronic system may be a component of
another engineered system or a standalone device. As of 2018 most electronic
devices[2] use semiconductor components to perform electron control.
The identification of the electron in 1897, along with the invention of the vacuum tube, which
could amplify and rectify small electrical signals, inaugurated the field of electronics and the
electron age.[3]
Commonly, electronic devices contain circuitry consisting primarily or exclusively of
active semiconductors supplemented with passive elements; such a circuit is described as
an electronic circuit. Electronics deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical
components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes, integrated circuits, optoelectronics,
and sensors, associated passive electrical components, and interconnection
technologies.The nonlinear behaviour of active components and their ability to control electron
flows makes amplification of weak signals possible.
Electrical and electromechanical science and technology deals with the generation, distribution,
switching, storage, and conversion of electrical energy to and from other energy forms
(using wires, motors, generators, batteries, switches, relays, transformers, resistors, and
other passive components). This distinction started around 1906 with the invention by Lee De
Forest of the triode, which made electrical amplification of weak radio signals and audio signals
possible with a non-mechanical device. Until 1950 this field was called "radio technology"
because its principal application was the design and theory of radio transmitters, receivers,
and vacuum tubes.
The study of semiconductor devices and related technology is considered a branch of solid-state
physics, whereas the design and construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems
come under electronics engineering. This article focuses on engineering aspects of electronics.

Electronic devices and components[edit]

An electronic component is any physical entity in an electronic system used to affect
the electrons or their associated fields in a manner consistent with the intended function of the
electronic system. Components are generally intended to be connected together, usually by
being soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB), to create an electronic circuit with a particular
function (for example an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Components may be packaged
singly, or in more complex groups as integrated circuits. Some common electronic components
are capacitors, inductors, resistors, diodes, transistors, etc. Components are often categorized
as active (e.g. transistors and thyristors) or passive (e.g. resistors, diodes, inductors and
capacitors).[4]

Electronic component
An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an electronic
system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are
mostly industrial products, available in a singular form and are not to be confused with electrical
elements, which are conceptual abstractions representing idealized electronic components.
Electronic components have a number of electrical terminals or leads. These leads connect to
create an electronic circuit with a particular function (for example an amplifier, radio receiver,
or oscillator). Basic electronic components may be packaged discretely, as arrays or networks of
like components, or integrated inside of packages such as semiconductor integrated
circuits, hybrid integrated circuits, or thick film devices. The following list of electronic
components focuses on the discrete version of these components, treating such packages as
components in their own right.

Semiconductor
A semiconductor material has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of
a conductor, such as metallic copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistance decreases
as its temperature increases, which is behaviour opposite to that of a metal. Its conducting
properties may be altered in useful ways by the deliberate, controlled introduction of impurities
("doping") into the crystal structure. Where two differently-doped regions exist in the same
crystal, a semiconductor junction is created. The behavior of charge carriers which
include electrons, ions and electron holes at these junctions is the basis
of diodes, transistors and all modern electronics. Some examples of semiconductors
are silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, and elements near the so-called "metalloid staircase"
on the periodic table. After silicon, gallium arsenide is the second most common
semiconductor[citation needed] and is used in laser diodes, solar cells, microwave-frequency integrated
circuits and others. Silicon is a critical element for fabricating most electronic circuits.
Semiconductor devices can display a range of useful properties such as passing current more
easily in one direction than the other, showing variable resistance, and sensitivity to light or heat.
Because the electrical properties of a semiconductor material can be modified by doping, or by
the application of electrical fields or light, devices made from semiconductors can be used for
amplification, switching, and energy conversion.
The conductivity of silicon is increased by adding a small amount (of the order of 1 in 108) of
pentavalent (antimony, phosphorus, or arsenic) or trivalent (boron, gallium, indium) atoms. This
process is known as doping and resulting semiconductors are known as doped or extrinsic
semiconductors. Apart from doping, the conductivity of a semiconductor can equally be improved
by increasing its temperature. This is contrary to the behaviour of a metal in which conductivity
decreases with increase in temperature.
The modern understanding of the properties of a semiconductor relies on quantum physics to
explain the movement of charge carriers in a crystal lattice.[1] Doping greatly increases the
number of charge carriers within the crystal. When a doped semiconductor contains mostly free
holes it is called "p-type", and when it contains mostly free electrons it is known as "n-type". The
semiconductor materials used in electronic devices are doped under precise conditions to control
the concentration and regions of p- and n-type dopants. A single semiconductor crystal can have
many p- and n-type regions; the p–n junctions between these regions are responsible for the
useful electronic behavior.
Some of the properties of semiconductor materials were observed throughout the mid 19th and
first decades of the 20th century. The first practical application of semiconductors in electronics
was the 1904 development of the cat's-whisker detector, a primitive semiconductor diode used in
early radio receivers. Developments in quantum physics in turn allowed the development of
the transistor in 1947[2] and the integrated circuit in 1958.