Reading Notes_Semiconductors and Transistors
Despite studying Computer Science, I have no idea how the intricate parts of a computer work. Needless to say I was thrilled to find out that my current read, Chip War by Chris Miller, covers one of the biggest inventions in the last century, the transistor. So to help myself learn and remember it, here's my explanation.
William Shockley came up with the theory of Solid State Value where if a power source was attached to a piece of silicone and an electric field was applied then, the silicone would then become conductive due to the electrons being attracted. Unfortunately, at the time the tools to detect the current that was being passed were not up to par so, later on Walter Brattain and John Bardeen improved the experiment by applying two gold filaments attached by wires to a power source and a piece of metal to a block of germanium (works in a similar fashion to silicone). Each filament touched the germanium less than a millimeter apart from one another.
They found they were able to control the current that was surging across the germanium by switching the power on and off thus proving Shockley's theory. The new piece of technology was then dubbed the transistor.
Hopefully this will help keep this information in my brain, and maybe teach any other CS professionals.
