18-05-2017, 11:50 PM
In the first instance thermionic devices were developed from observations, for example the plate that was placed inside an early electric lamps to stop the glass bulb from becoming blackened by emissions from the filaments, was eventually developed into the Fleming diode. The principles of the technology was understood before the applications were developed.
Transistors were envisioned, and their potential advantages were the driving force in the race for their early development, it's a little like building a shed then drawing the plans afterwards. So the transistor was based on some broad notions about the physical properties of semiconductors. If the team at Bell hadn't "got lucky" the French scientists who were developing their own version would have, or someone else.
The point of this ramble is that because of the way that the transistor came into being, the early texts that explained how the device worked, are for the most part hogwash, and only really serve to overcomplicate and confuse.
No self respecting electronics designer would slavishly use the vagaries of transistor gain parameters or the flawed notion of the current model to design their electronic creations. It's a good thing that once exam time is over, most of those academic theories on the solid state, that are printed as facts, but have little value In the real world, can be forgotten.
Transistors were envisioned, and their potential advantages were the driving force in the race for their early development, it's a little like building a shed then drawing the plans afterwards. So the transistor was based on some broad notions about the physical properties of semiconductors. If the team at Bell hadn't "got lucky" the French scientists who were developing their own version would have, or someone else.
The point of this ramble is that because of the way that the transistor came into being, the early texts that explained how the device worked, are for the most part hogwash, and only really serve to overcomplicate and confuse.
No self respecting electronics designer would slavishly use the vagaries of transistor gain parameters or the flawed notion of the current model to design their electronic creations. It's a good thing that once exam time is over, most of those academic theories on the solid state, that are printed as facts, but have little value In the real world, can be forgotten.
