(n.) A semiconductor with three terminals used for amplification. It was invented in 1947 at Bell Labs and remains the fundamental component of most electronic circuits. Transistors are miniaturized and combined with other components to create complex integrated circuits (ICs), such as logic gates, microprocessors, and memory. The two types are the bipolar transistor (also called the junction transistor) and the field-effect transistor (FET).
transistor
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