Electronic Circuitry & Components

Electronic Circuitry & Components
Compiled by Chad Mairn
Contents
1
Electronic circuit
1.1
Analog circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2
Digital circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.3
Mixed-signal circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.4
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.5
External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Electronic component
2.1
Classication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2
Active components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.1
Semiconductors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.2
Display technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.3
Vacuum tubes (valves) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.4
Discharge devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.5
Power sources
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Passive components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.1
Resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.2
Capacitors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.3
Magnetic (inductive) devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.4
Memristor
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.5
Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.6
Transducers, sensors, detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.7
Antennas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.8
Assemblies, modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.9
Prototyping aids
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3
2.4
Electromechanical
2.4.1
Piezoelectric devices, crystals, resonators
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.2
Terminals and connectors
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.4.3
Cable assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
2.4.4
Switches
10
2.4.5
Protection devices
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
2.4.6
Mechanical accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
2.4.7
Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ii
CONTENTS
2.4.8
Obsolete
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
2.5
Standard symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
2.6
See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
2.7
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11
Resistor
12
3.1
Electronic symbols and notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
3.2
Theory of operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
3.2.1
Ohms law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
3.2.2
Series and parallel resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
3.2.3
Power dissipation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
3.3
Nonideal properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
3.4
Fixed resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
3.4.1
Lead arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
3.4.2
Carbon composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14
3.4.3
Carbon pile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
3.4.4
Carbon lm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
3.4.5
Printed carbon resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
3.4.6
Thick and thin lm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15
3.4.7
Metal lm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
3.4.8
Metal oxide lm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
3.4.9
Wire wound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
3.4.10 Foil resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
3.4.11 Ammeter shunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
3.4.12 Grid resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17
3.4.13 Special varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
Variable resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
3.5.1
Adjustable resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
3.5.2
Potentiometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
3.5.3
Resistance decade boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
3.5.4
Special devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
3.6
Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
3.7
Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
3.7.1
Production resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
3.7.2
Resistance standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
Resistor marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19
3.8.1
Preferred values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
3.8.2
SMT resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
3.8.3
Industrial type designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
Electrical and thermal noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
3.10 Failure modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21
3.11 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
3.5
3.8
3.9
CONTENTS
3.12 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
3.13 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23
Transistor
24
4.1
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24
4.2
Importance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
25
4.3
Simplied operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
4.3.1
Transistor as a switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
4.3.2
Transistor as an amplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
27
Comparison with vacuum tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
27
4.4.1
Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
27
4.4.2
Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28
Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28
4.5.1
Bipolar junction transistor (BJT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28
4.5.2
Field-eect transistor (FET) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29
4.5.3
Usage of bipolar and eld-eect transistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29
4.5.4
Other transistor types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
29
Part numbering standards / specications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
4.6.1
Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
4.6.2
European Electronic Component Manufacturers Association (EECA) . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
4.6.3
Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
4.6.4
Proprietary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
4.6.5
Naming problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
31
Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
32
4.7.1
Semiconductor material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
32
4.7.2
Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
32
4.8
See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
4.9
Directory of external websites with datasheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
4.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
33
4.11 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
35
4.12 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
35
Capacitor
36
5.1
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
37
5.2
Theory of operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
37
5.2.1
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
38
5.2.2
Hydraulic analogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
38
5.2.3
Energy of electric eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39
5.2.4
Currentvoltage relation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39
5.2.5
DC circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
39
5.2.6
AC circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
5.2.7
Laplace circuit analysis (s-domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
iii
iv
CONTENTS
5.2.8
Parallel-plate model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
5.2.9
Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
41
Non-ideal behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42
5.3.1
Breakdown voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42
5.3.2
Equivalent circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42
5.3.3
Q factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
43
5.3.4
Ripple current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
43
5.3.5
Capacitance instability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
43
5.3.6
Current and voltage reversal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
5.3.7
Dielectric absorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
5.3.8
Leakage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
5.3.9
Electrolytic failure from disuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
Capacitor types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
44
5.4.1
Dielectric materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
45
5.4.2
Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
46
Capacitor markings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
46
5.5.1
Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
47
Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
47
5.6.1
Energy storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
47
5.6.2
Pulsed power and weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
47
5.6.3
Power conditioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
47
5.6.4
Suppression and coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
48
5.6.5
Motor starters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
49
5.6.6
Signal processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
49
5.6.7
Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
49
5.6.8
Oscillators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50
5.7
Hazards and safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50
5.8
See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50
5.9
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
5.10 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
51
5.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
52
Inductor
53
6.1
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53
6.1.1
Constitutive equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53
6.1.2
Lenzs law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54
6.1.3
Ideal and real inductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54
6.2
Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
54
6.3
Inductor construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
55
6.4
Types of inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
56
6.4.1
Air core inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
56
6.4.2
Ferromagnetic core inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
57
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
CONTENTS
6.4.3
Variable inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
59
Circuit theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
60
6.5.1
Reactance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
60
6.5.2
Laplace circuit analysis (s-domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
6.5.3
Inductor networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
6.5.4
Stored energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
6.6
Q factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
61
6.7
Inductance formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
62
6.8
See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
62
6.9
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
62
6.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
63
6.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
63
Diode
64
7.1
Main functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
64
7.2
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
64
7.2.1
Vacuum tube diodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
65
7.2.2
Solid-state diodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
66
7.2.3
Etymology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
66
7.3
Thermionic diodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
66
7.4
Semiconductor diodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
7.4.1
Electronic symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
7.4.2
Point-contact diodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
7.4.3
Junction diodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
67
7.4.4
Currentvoltage characteristic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
68
7.4.5
Shockley diode equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
69
7.4.6
Small-signal behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
69
7.4.7
Reverse-recovery eect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
70
7.5
Types of semiconductor diode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
70
7.6
Numbering and coding schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73
7.6.1
EIA/JEDEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73
7.6.2
JIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73
7.6.3
Pro Electron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73
7.7
Related devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73
7.8
Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
7.8.1
Radio demodulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
7.8.2
Power conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
7.8.3
Over-voltage protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
7.8.4
Logic gates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
7.8.5
Ionizing radiation detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
74
7.8.6
Temperature measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
7.8.7
Current steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
6.5
vi
CONTENTS
7.8.8
Waveform Clipper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
7.8.9
Clamper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
7.10 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
7.11 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
75
7.12 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
76
Wire
77
7.9
8.1
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
77
8.2
Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
78
8.3
Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
78
8.4
Finishing, jacketing, and insulating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79
8.5
Forms of wire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79
8.5.1
Solid wire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79
8.5.2
Stranded wire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
79
8.5.3
Braided wire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
80
8.5.4
Number of strands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
80
8.6
Varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
80
8.7
See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
8.8
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
8.9
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
8.10 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
Printed circuit board
82
9.1
Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
82
9.2
Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
83
9.2.1
PCB CAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
83
9.2.2
Panelization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
83
9.2.3
Copper patterning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
83
9.2.4
Subtractive, additive and semi-additive processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
84
9.2.5
Chemical etching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
84
9.2.6
Inner layer automated optical inspection (AOI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
9.2.7
Lamination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
9.2.8
Drilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
9.2.9
Plating and coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
9.2.10 Solder resist application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
9.2.11 Legend printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
9.2.12 Bare-board test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
9.2.13 Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
9.2.14 Protection and packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
PCB characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
88
9.3.1
88
9.3
Through-hole technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CONTENTS
vii
9.3.2
Surface-mount technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
88
9.3.3
Circuit properties of the PCB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
89
9.3.4
Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
89
9.4
Multiwire boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90
9.5
Cordwood construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90
9.6
History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90
9.7
See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
92
9.8
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
92
9.9
External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
94
10 Electric current
95
10.1 Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95
10.2 Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
95
10.2.1 Reference direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96
10.3 Ohms law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96
10.4 AC and DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96
10.4.1 Direct current
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96
10.4.2 Alternating current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96
10.5 Occurrences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
97
10.6 Current measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
97
10.7 Resistive heating
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
97
10.8 Electromagnetism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
97
10.8.1 Electromagnet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
97
10.8.2 Radio waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
98
10.9 Conduction mechanisms in various media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
98
10.9.1 Metals
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
98
10.9.2 Electrolytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
98
10.9.3 Gases and plasmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
99
10.9.4 Vacuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
99
10.9.5 Superconductivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
99
10.9.6 Semiconductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
99
10.10Current density and Ohms law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

10.11Drift speed
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
10.12See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

10.13References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
10.14External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
11 Integrated circuit
102
11.1 Terminology
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
11.2 Invention
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
11.3 Generations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

11.3.1 SSI, MSI and LSI
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
viii
CONTENTS
11.3.2 VLSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
11.3.3 ULSI, WSI, SOC and 3D-IC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
11.4 Advances in integrated circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
11.5 Computer assisted design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
11.6 Classication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
11.7 Manufacturing
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
11.7.1 Fabrication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

11.7.2 Packaging
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
11.7.3 Chip labeling and manufacture date
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
11.8 Intellectual property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

11.9 Other developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
11.10Silicon labelling and grati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
11.11ICs and IC families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
11.12See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
11.13References
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
11.14Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

11.15External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
12 Breadboard
113
12.1 Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

12.1.1 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
12.2 Solderless breadboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
12.2.1 Typical specications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
12.2.2 Bus and terminal strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
12.2.3 Jump wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
12.2.4 Inside a breadboard: construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
12.2.5 Advanced solderless breadboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
12.2.6 High frequencies and dead bugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
12.2.7 Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
12.3 Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
12.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
12.5 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
12.6 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
13 Perfboard
118
13.1 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

14 Stripboard
120
14.1 Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

14.2 Hole spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
14.3 Board dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
14.4 Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
CONTENTS
ix
14.5 Comparison with other systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

14.5.1 Wire wrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
14.5.2 Breadboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
14.6 Prototype boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
14.6.1 TriPad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
14.6.2 Perf+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
14.6.3 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
14.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
14.8 References
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
15 Analogue electronics
123
15.1 Analogue signals
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
15.2 Inherent noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

15.3 Analogue vs digital electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
15.3.1 Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
15.3.2 Precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
15.3.3 Design diculty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
15.4 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
15.5 References
16 Digital electronics
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
125
16.1 Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

16.2 Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
16.3 Design issues in digital circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
16.4 Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
16.4.1 Structure of digital systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
16.4.2 Automated design tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
16.4.3 Design for testability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
16.4.4 Trade-os . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
16.4.5 Logic families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
16.5 Recent developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
16.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
16.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
16.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
16.9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
16.9.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
16.9.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
16.9.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Chapter 1
Electronic circuit
ponents connected by individual pieces of wire, but today it is much more common to create interconnections
by photolithographic techniques on a laminated substrate
(a printed circuit board or PCB) and solder the components to these interconnections to create a nished circuit.
In an integrated circuit or IC, the components and interconnections are formed on the same substrate, typically a
semiconductor such as silicon or (less commonly) gallium
arsenide.[2]
Breadboards, perfboards, and stripboards are common
for testing new designs. They allow the designer to make
quick changes to the circuit during development.
An electronic circuit can usually be categorized as an
analog circuit, a digital circuit, or a mixed-signal circuit
(a combination of analog circuits and digital circuits).
The die from an Intel 8742, an 8-bit microcontroller that includes

a CPU, 128 bytes of RAM, 2048 bytes of EPROM, and I/O data
on current chip.
1.1 Analog circuits

Main article: Analog electronics
Analog electronic circuits are those in which current or
A circuit built on a printed circuit board (PCB).
An electronic circuit is composed of individual

electronic components, such as resistors, transistors,
capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive wires or traces through which electric current can
ow. The combination of components and wires allows various simple and complex operations to be performed: signals can be amplied, computations can be
performed, and data can be moved from one place to
another.[1] Circuits can be constructed of discrete com-
A circuit diagram representing an analog circuit, in this case a

simple amplier
voltage may vary continuously with time to correspond

to the information being represented. Analog circuitry is
constructed from two fundamental building blocks: series
and parallel circuits. In a series circuit, the same current passes through a series of components. A string of
1
CHAPTER 1. ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT
Christmas lights is a good example of a series circuit: if 1.2 Digital circuits

one goes out, they all do. In a parallel circuit, all the components are connected to the same voltage, and the cur- Main article: Digital electronics
rent divides between the various components according
to their resistance.
In digital electronic circuits, electric signals take on discrete values, to represent logical and numeric values.[3]
These values represent the information that is being processed. In the vast majority of cases, binary encoding is
used: one voltage (typically the more positive value) represents a binary '1' and another voltage (usually a value
near the ground potential, 0 V) represents a binary '0'.
Digital circuits make extensive use of transistors, interconnected to create logic gates that provide the functions of Boolean logic: AND, NAND, OR, NOR, XOR
and all possible combinations thereof. Transistors interconnected so as to provide positive feedback are used
as latches and ip ops, circuits that have two or more
metastable states, and remain in one of these states until changed by an external input. Digital circuits therefore can provide both logic and memory, enabling them
to perform arbitrary computational functions. (MemA simple schematic showing wires, a resistor, and a battery
ory based on ip-ops is known as static random-access
memory (SRAM). Memory based on the storage of
charge in a capacitor, dynamic random-access memory
(DRAM) is also widely used.)
The basic components of analog circuits are wires, re- The design process for digital circuits is fundamentally
sistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, and transistors. (In dierent from the process for analog circuits. Each logic
2012 it was demonstrated that memristors can be added gate regenerates the binary signal, so the designer need
to the list of available components.) Analog circuits are not account for distortion, gain control, oset voltages,
very commonly represented in schematic diagrams, in and other concerns faced in an analog design. As a consewhich wires are shown as lines, and each component quence, extremely complex digital circuits, with billions
has a unique symbol. Analog circuit analysis employs of logic elements integrated on a single silicon chip, can
Kirchhos circuit laws: all the currents at a node (a place be fabricated at low cost. Such digital integrated circuits
where wires meet), and the voltage around a closed loop are ubiquitous in modern electronic devices, such as calof wires is 0. Wires are usually treated as ideal zero- culators, mobile phone handsets, and computers. As digvoltage interconnections; any resistance or reactance is ital circuits become more complex, issues of time delay,
captured by explicitly adding a parasitic element, such as logic races, power dissipation, non-ideal switching, ona discrete resistor or inductor. Active components such as chip and inter-chip loading, and leakage currents, become
transistors are often treated as controlled current or volt- limitations to the density, speed and performance.
age sources: for example, a eld-eect transistor can be
modeled as a current source from the source to the drain, Digital circuitry is used to create general purpose computing chips, such as microprocessors, and custom-designed
with the current controlled by the gate-source voltage.
logic circuits, known as application-specic integrated
When the circuit size is comparable to a wavelength of the circuit (ASICs). Field-programmable gate arrays (FPrelevant signal frequency, a more sophisticated approach GAs), chips with logic circuitry whose conguration can
must be used. Wires are treated as transmission lines, be modied after fabrication, are also widely used in prowith (hopefully) constant characteristic impedance, and totyping and development.
the impedances at the start and end determine transmitted and reected waves on the line. Such considerations
typically become important for circuit boards at frequencies above a GHz; integrated circuits are smaller and can 1.3 Mixed-signal circuits
be treated as lumped elements for frequencies less than
Main article: mixed-signal integrated circuit
10 10GHz or so.
An alternative model is to take independent power
sources and induction as basic electronic units; this allows modeling frequency dependent negative resistors,
gyrators, negative impedance converters, and dependent
sources as secondary electronic components
Mixed-signal or hybrid circuits contain elements of

both analog and digital circuits. Examples include
comparators, timers, phase-locked loops, analog-todigital converters, and digital-to-analog converters. Most
1.5. EXTERNAL LINKS

modern radio and communications circuitry uses mixed
signal circuits. For example, in a receiver, analog circuitry is used to amplify and frequency-convert signals so
that they reach a suitable state to be converted into digital values, after which further signal processing can be
performed in the digital domain.
1.4 References
[1] Charles Alexander and Matthew Sadiku (2004). Fundamentals of Electric Circuits. McGraw-Hill.
[2] Richard Jaeger (1997). Microelectronic Circuit Design.
McGraw-Hill.
[3] John Hayes (1993). Introduction to Digital Logic Design. Addison Wesley.
1.5 External links

Electronic Circuit Theory
Chapter 2
Electronic component
ysis use a more restrictive denition of passivity. When
only concerned with the energy of signals, it is convenient to ignore the so-called DC circuit and pretend that
the power supplying components such as transistors or
integrated circuits is absent (as if each such component
had its own battery built in), though it may in reality be
supplied by the DC circuit. Then, the analysis only concerns the AC circuit, an abstraction that ignores DC voltages and currents (and the power associated with them)
present in the real-life circuit. This ction, for instance,
lets us view an oscillator as producing energy even
though in reality the oscillator consumes even more energy from a DC power supply, which we have chosen to
ignore. Under that restriction, we dene the terms as used
in circuit analysis as:
Various electronic components
An electronic component is any basic discrete device

or physical entity in an electronic system used to aect
electrons or their associated elds. 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.
Active components rely on a source of energy (usually from the DC circuit, which we have chosen to
ignore) and usually can inject power into a circuit,
though this is not part of the denition.[1] Active
components include amplifying components such as
transistors, triode vacuum tubes (valves), and tunnel
diodes.
Electronic components have two or more electrical

terminals (or leads) aside from antennas which may only
have one terminal. These leads connect to create an
electronic circuit with a particular function (for example
an amplier, 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 lm devices. The following list of electronic components focuses on the discrete version of these components, treating such packages
as components in their own right.
Passive components can't introduce net energy into

the circuit. They also can't rely on a source of power,
except for what is available from the (AC) circuit
they are connected to. As a consequence they can't
amplify (increase the power of a signal), although
they may increase a voltage or current (such as is
done by a transformer or resonant circuit). Passive
components include two-terminal components such
as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers.
Electromechanical components can carry out
electrical operations by using moving parts or by using electrical connections
2.1 Classication
Components can be classied as passive, active, or electromechanic. The strict physics denition treats passive components as ones that cannot supply energy themselves, whereas a battery would be seen as an active component since it truly acts as a source of energy.
Most passive components with more than two terminals

can be described in terms of two-port parameters that satisfy the principle of reciprocitythough there are rare
exceptions.[2] In contrast, active components (with more
However, electronic engineers who perform circuit anal- than two terminals) generally lack that property.
4
2.2. ACTIVE COMPONENTS
2.2 Active components

2.2.1
5
Bipolar junction transistor (BJT, or simply
transistor) NPN or PNP
Photo transistor Amplied photodetector
Semiconductors
Darlington transistor NPN or PNP
Diodes
Photo Darlington Amplied photodetector

Sziklai pair (Compound transistor, complementary Darlington)
Field-eect transistor (FET)
Various types of Light-emitting diode
Conduct electricity easily in one direction, among more

specic behaviors.
JFET (Junction Field-Eect Transistor) NCHANNEL or P-CHANNEL

MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor FET)
N-CHANNEL or P-CHANNEL
MESFET (MEtal Semiconductor FET)
HEMT (High electron mobility transistor)
Diode, Rectier, Bridge rectier

Schottky diode, hot carrier diode super fast diode
with lower forward voltage drop
Zener diode Passes current in reverse direction to
provide a constant voltage reference
Transient voltage suppression diode (TVS), Unipolar or Bipolar used to absorb high-voltage spikes
Varactor, Tuning diode, Varicap, Variable capacitance diode A diode whose AC capacitance varies
according to the DC voltage applied.
Light-emitting diode (LED) A diode that emits
light
Thyristors
Silicon-controlled rectier (SCR) Passes
current only after triggered by a sucient control voltage on its gate
TRIAC (TRIode for Alternating Current)
Bidirectional SCR
Unijunction transistor (UJT)
Programmable Unijunction transistor (PUT)
SIT (Static induction transistor)
SITh (Static induction thyristor)
Composite transistors
IGBT (Insulated-gate bipolar transistor)
Photodiode Passes current in proportion to inciIntegrated circuits

dent light
Avalanche photodiode Photodiode with internal gain
Solar Cell, photovoltaic cell, PV array or
panel, produces power from light
DIAC (Diode for Alternating Current), Trigger
Diode, SIDAC) Often used to trigger an SCR
Constant-current diode
Peltier cooler A semiconductor heat pump
Transistors
Transistors were considered the invention of the twentieth century that changed electronic circuits forever. A
transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and
switch electronic signals and electrical power.
Transistors
Digital
Analog
Hall eect sensor senses a magnetic eld
Current sensor Senses a current through it
Optoelectronic devices
Optoelectronics
Opto-Isolator, Opto-Coupler, Photo-Coupler
Photodiode, BJT, JFET, SCR, TRIAC,
Zero-crossing TRIAC, Open collector IC,
CMOS IC, Solid state relay (SSR)
Opto switch, Opto interrupter, Optical switch,
Optical interrupter, Photo switch, Photo interrupter
LED display Seven-segment display,
Sixteen-segment display, Dot-matrix display
CHAPTER 2. ELECTRONIC COMPONENT
2.2.2
Display technologies
Current:
Optical detectors or emitters
Filament lamp (indicator lamp)

Vacuum uorescent display (VFD) (preformed
characters, 7 segment, starburst)
Cathode ray tube (CRT) (dot matrix scan, radial
scan (e.g. radar), arbitrary scan (e.g. oscilloscope))
(monochrome & colour)
LCD (preformed characters, dot matrix) (passive,
TFT) (monochrome, colour)
Neon (individual, 7 segment display)
LED (individual, 7 segment display, starburst display, dot matrix)
Flap indicator (numeric, preprinted messages)
Plasma display (dot matrix)
Obsolete:
Filament lamp 7 segment display (aka 'minitron')
Nixie Tube
Dekatron (aka glow transfer tube)
Magic eye tube indicator
Penetron (a 2 colour see-through CRT)
2.2.3
Traveling-wave tube
Phototube or Photodiode tube equivalent of semiconductor photodiode

Photomultiplier tube Phototube with internal gain
Cathode ray tube (CRT) or television picture tube
Vacuum uorescent display (VFD) Modern nonraster sort of small CRT display
Magic eye tube Small CRT display used as a tuning
meter (obsolete)
X-ray tube Produces x-rays
2.2.4 Discharge devices

Gas discharge tube
Obsolete:
Mercury arc rectier
Voltage regulator tube
Nixie tube
Thyratron
Ignitron
Vacuum tubes (valves)

2.2.5 Power sources
A vacuum tube is based on current conduction through a

vacuum (see Vacuum tube).
Sources of electrical power:
Diode or rectier tube
Amplifying tubes
Triode
Tetrode
Pentode
Hexode
Pentagrid
Octode
Microwave tubes
Klystron
Magnetron
Battery acid- or alkali-based power supply

Fuel cell an electrochemical generator
Power supply usually a mains hook-up
Photo voltaic device generates electricity from
light
Thermo electric generator generates electricity
from temperature gradients
Electrical generator an electromechanical power
source
Piezoelectric pressure - creates electricity from mechanical strain
Van de Graa generator - Van de Graa generator
or essentially creating voltage from friction
2.3. PASSIVE COMPONENTS
7
Resistance wire, Nichrome wire wire of highresistance material, often used as a heating element
Heater heating element
2.3.2 Capacitors
SMD resistors on a backside of a PCB
2.3 Passive components

2.3.1
Resistors
Pass current in proportion to voltage (Ohms law) and oppose current.

Some dierent capacitors for electronic equipment
Resistor xed value
Capacitors store and release electrical charge. They are

used for ltering power supply lines, tuning resonant cir Power resistor larger to safely dissipate heat cuits, and for blocking DC voltages while passing AC siggenerated
nals, among numerous other uses.
SIP or DIP resistor network array of resistors
in one package
Variable resistor
Rheostat two-terminal variable resistor (often for high power)
Potentiometer three-terminal variable resistor (variable voltage divider)
Trim pot Small potentiometer, usually for internal adjustments
Thermistor thermally sensitive resistor
whose prime function is to exhibit a large, predictable and precise change in electrical resistance when subjected to a corresponding
change in body temperature.[3]
Humistor humidity-varied resistor
Photoresistor
Memristor
Varistor, Voltage Dependent Resistor, MOV
Passes current when excessive voltage is
present
Capacitor
Integrated capacitors
MIS capacitor
Trench capacitor
Fixed capacitors
Ceramic capacitor
Film capacitor
Electrolytic capacitor
Aluminum electrolytic capacitor
Tantalum electrolytic capacitor
Niobium electrolytic capacitor
Polymer capacitor, OS-CON
Supercapacitor (Electric double-layer capacitor)
Nanoionic supercapacitor
Lithium-ion capacitor
Mica capacitor
Vacuum capacitor
Variable capacitor adjustable capacitance

Tuning capacitor variable capacitor for 2.3.5 Networks
tuning a radio, oscillator, or tuned circuit
Trim capacitor small variable capacitor Components that use more than one type of passive comis usually for slight internal adjustments ponent:
made with a small screw driver turned
into the right position.
Vacuum variable capacitor
Capacitors for special applications
RC network forms an RC circuit, used in snubbers

LC Network forms an LC circuit, used in tunable
transformers and RFI lters.
Power capacitor
Safety capacitor
Filter capacitor
Light-emitting capacitor
Motor capacitor
Photoash capacitor
Reservoir capacitor
Capacitor network (array)
Varicap diode AC capacitance varies according to
the DC voltage applied
2.3.3
Magnetic (inductive) devices
Electrical components that use magnetism in the storage

and release of electrical charge through current:
Inductor, coil, choke
Variable inductor
Saturable Inductor
Transformer
Magnetic amplier (toroid)
ferrite impedances, beads
Motor / Generator
Solenoid
Loudspeaker and microphone
2.3.4
Memristor
Electrical components that pass charge in proportion to

magnetism or magnetic ux, and have the ability to retain
a previous resistive state, hence the name of Memory plus
Resistor.
Memristor
2.3.6 Transducers, sensors, detectors

1. Transducers generate physical eects when driven
by an electrical signal, or vice versa.
2. Sensors (detectors) are transducers that react to environmental conditions by changing their electrical
properties or generating an electrical signal.
3. The transducers listed here are single electronic
components (as opposed to complete assemblies),
and are passive (see Semiconductors and Tubes for
active ones). Only the most common ones are listed
here.
Audio (see also piezoelectric devices)
Loudspeaker Magnetic or piezoelectric device to generate full audio
Buzzer Magnetic or piezoelectric sounder to
generate tones
Position, motion
Linear variable dierential transformer
(LVDT) Magnetic detects linear position
Rotary encoder, Shaft Encoder Optical,
magnetic, resistive or switches detects absolute or relative angle or rotational speed
Inclinometer Capacitive detects angle with
respect to gravity
Motion sensor, Vibration sensor
Flow meter detects ow in liquid or gas
Force, torque
Strain gauge Piezoelectric or resistive detects squeezing, stretching, twisting
Accelerometer Piezoelectric detects acceleration, gravity
Thermal
Thermocouple, thermopile Wires that generate a voltage proportional to delta temperature
Thermistor Resistor whose resistance
changes with temperature, up PTC or down
NTC
2.4. ELECTROMECHANICAL
Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD)
Wire whose resistance changes with temperature
2.4 Electromechanical
Bolometer Device for measuring the power

of incident electromagnetic radiation
Thermal cuto Switch that is opened or
closed when a set temperature is exceeded
Magnetic eld (see also Hall Eect in semiconductors)
Magnetometer, Gauss meter
2 crystalline type oscillators
Humidity
Hygrometer
Electromagnetic, light
2.4.1 Piezoelectric devices, crystals, resonators
Photo resistor Light dependent resistor

Passive components that use piezoelectric eect:
(LDR)
2.3.7
Antennas
Antennas transmit or receive radio waves

Elemental dipole
Yagi
Phased array
Components that use the eect to generate or lter

high frequencies
Crystal a ceramic crystal used to generate
precise frequencies (See the Modules class below for complete oscillators)
Ceramic resonator Is a ceramic crystal used
to generate semi-precise frequencies
Parabolic dish
Ceramic lter Is a ceramic crystal used to

lter a band of frequencies such as in radio receivers
Log-periodic dipole array
surface acoustic wave (SAW) lters
Loop antenna
Biconical
Feedhorn
2.3.8
Assemblies, modules
Multiple electronic components assembled in a device

that is in itself used as a component
Oscillator
Display devices
Liquid crystal display (LCD)
Digital voltmeters
Filter
Components that use the eect as mechanical

transducers.
Ultrasonic motor Electric motor that uses the
piezoelectric eects
For piezo buzzers and microphones, see the
Transducer class below
2.4.2 Terminals and connectors

Devices to make electrical connection
Terminal
Connector
2.3.9
Prototyping aids
Socket
Wire-wrap
Screw terminal, Terminal Blocks
Breadboard
Pin header
10
2.4.3
Cable assemblies
Cables with connectors or terminals at their ends
Relay Electrically operated switch (mechanical,

also see Solid State Relay below)
Reed switch Magnetically activated switch
Power cord
Thermostat Thermally activated switch
Patch cord
Humidistat Humidity activated switch
Test lead
Circuit breaker Switch opened in response to excessive current: a resettable fuse
2.4.5 Protection devices

Passive components that protect circuits from excessive
currents or voltages:
Fuse over-current protection, one time use
Circuit breaker resettable fuse in the form of a mechanical switch
Resettable fuse or PolySwitch circuit breaker action using solid state device
2 dierent tactile switches
2.4.4
Switches
Components that can pass current (closed) or break the

ow of current (open):
Switch Manually operated switch.
Electrical description: SPST, SPDT, DPST,
DPDT, NPNT (general)
Technology: slide switches, toggle switches,
rocker switches, rotary switches, pushbutton
switches
Keypad Array of pushbutton switches
DIP switch Small array of switches for internal
conguration settings
Ground-fault protection or residual-current device

circuit breaker sensitive to mains currents passing to
ground
Metal oxide varistor (MOV), surge absorber, TVS
Over-voltage protection.
Inrush current limiter protection against initial
Inrush current
Gas discharge tube protection against high voltage
surges
Spark gap electrodes with a gap to arc over at a
high voltage
Lightning arrester spark gap used to protect against
lightning strikes
2.4.6 Mechanical accessories

Enclosure (electrical)
Footswitch Foot-operated switch
Heat sink
Knife switch Switch with unenclosed conductors
Fan
Micro switch Mechanically activated switch with

snap action
2.4.7
Limit switch Mechanically activated switch to
sense limit of motion
Mercury switch Switch sensing tilt
Centrifugal switch Switch sensing centrifugal force
due to rate of rotation
Other
Printed circuit boards

Lamp
Waveguide
Memristor
2.7. REFERENCES
2.4.8
Obsolete
Carbon amplier (see Carbon microphones used as

ampliers)
Carbon arc (negative resistance device)
Dynamo (historic rf generator)
Coherer
2.5 Standard symbols

Main article: Electronic symbol
On a circuit diagram, electronic devices are represented
by conventional symbols. Reference designators are applied to the symbols to identify the component.
2.6 See also

Circuit design
Circuit diagram
Counterfeit electronic components
Electrical element
Electronic mixer
Electronic components Datasheets
IEEE 315-1975
2.7 References
[1] For instance, a computer could be contained inside a black
box with two external terminals. It might do various calculations and signal its results by varying its resistance, but
always consuming power as a resistance does. Nevertheless, its an active component, since it relies on a power
source to operate.
[2] Nonreciprocal passive devices include the gyrator (though
as a truly passive component, this exists more in theoretical terms, and is usually implemented using an active
circuit)and the circulator, which is used at microwave
and optical frequencies
[3] What is a Thermistor. U.S. Sensor Corp.
11
Chapter 3
Resistor
3.1 Electronic symbols and notation
Two typical schematic diagram symbols are as follows;
(a) resistor, (b) rheostat (variable resistor), and (c)
potentiometer
IEC resistor symbol
Axial-lead resistors on tape. The component is cut from the tape
during assembly and the part is inserted into the board.
The notation to state a resistors value in a circuit diagram

varies, too. The European notation BS 1852 avoids using
a decimal separator, and replaces the decimal separator
with the SI prex symbol for the particular value. For example, 8k2 in a circuit diagram indicates a resistor value
of 8.2 k. Additional zeros imply tighter tolerance, for
example 15M0. When the value can be expressed without the need for an SI prex, an 'R' is used instead of the
decimal separator. For example, 1R2 indicates 1.2 ,
and 18R indicates 18 . The use of a SI prex symbol or
the letter 'R' circumvents the problem that decimal separators tend to 'disappear' when photocopying a printed
circuit diagram.
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component

that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element.
Resistors act to reduce current ow, and, at the same time,
act to lower voltage levels within circuits. In electronic
circuits resistors are used to limit current ow, to adjust
signal levels, bias active elements, terminate transmission
lines among other uses. High-power resistors that can dissipate many watts of electrical power as heat may be used
as part of motor controls, in power distribution systems,
or as test loads for generators. Fixed resistors have resis- 3.2 Theory of operation
tances that only change slightly with temperature, time or
operating voltage. Variable resistors can be used to ad- 3.2.1 Ohms law
just circuit elements (such as a volume control or a lamp
dimmer), or as sensing devices for heat, light, humidity, Main article: Ohms law
force, or chemical activity.
Resistors are common elements of electrical networks The behavior of an ideal resistor is dictated by the relaand electronic circuits and are ubiquitous in electronic tionship specied by Ohms law:
equipment. Practical resistors as discrete components
can be composed of various compounds and forms. Resistors are also implemented within integrated circuits.
V = I R.
The electrical function of a resistor is specied by its
resistance: common commercial resistors are manufac- Ohms law states that the voltage (V) across a resistor is
tured over a range of more than nine orders of magni- proportional to the current (I), where the constant of protude. The nominal value of the resistance will fall within portionality is the resistance (R). For example, if a 300
a manufacturing tolerance.
ohm resistor is attached across the terminals of a 12 volt
12
3.2. THEORY OF OPERATION
13
Higher
pressure
Lower
pressure
R1 R2
Hair
in pipe
Small R
Same flow
Rn
Large R
1
Req
The hydraulic analogy compares electric current owing through

circuits to water owing through pipes. When a pipe (left) is
lled with hair (right), it takes a larger pressure to achieve the
same ow of water. Pushing electric current through a large resistance is like pushing water through a pipe clogged with hair:
It requires a larger push (voltage drop) to drive the same ow
(electric current).[1]
1
R1
1
R2
+ +
1
Rn .
So, for example, a 10 ohm resistor connected in parallel with a 5 ohm resistor and a 15 ohm resistor will produce the inverse of 1/10+1/5+1/15 ohms of resistance,
or 1/(.1+.2+.067)=2.725 ohms.
A resistor network that is a combination of parallel and

series connections can be broken up into smaller parts
that are either one or the other. Some complex networks
battery, then a current of 12 / 300 = 0.04 amperes ows of resistors cannot be resolved in this manner, requiring
more sophisticated circuit analysis. Generally, the Y-
through that resistor.
transform, or matrix methods can be used to solve such
Practical resistors also have some inductance and
problems.[2][3][4]
capacitance which will also aect the relation between
voltage and current in alternating current circuits.
The ohm (symbol: ) is the SI unit of electrical resistance, named after Georg Simon Ohm. An ohm is equivalent to a volt per ampere. Since resistors are specied
and manufactured over a very large range of values, the
derived units of milliohm (1 m = 103 ), kilohm (1
k = 103 ), and megohm (1 M = 106 ) are also in
common usage.
3.2.2
Series and parallel resistors
3.2.3 Power dissipation

At any instant of time, the power P (watts) consumed by
a resistor of resistance R (ohms) is calculated as: P =
2
I 2 R = IV = VR where V (volts) is the voltage across
the resistor and I (amps) is the current owing through
it. Using Ohms law, the two other forms can be derived. This power is converted into heat which must be
dissipated by the resistors package before its temperature
rises excessively.
Resistors are rated according to their maximum power

dissipation. Most discrete resistors in solid-state elecMain article: Series and parallel circuits
tronic systems absorb much less than a watt of electrical power and require no attention to their power rating.
The total resistance of resistors connected in series is the Such resistors in their discrete form, including most of
sum of their individual resistance values.
the packages detailed below, are typically rated as 1/10,
1/8, or 1/4 watt.
R1
R2
Rn
Req = R1 + R2 + + Rn .
An aluminium-housed power resistor rated for 50 W when heatsinked
The total resistance of resistors connected in parallel is

the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the indi- Resistors required to dissipate substantial amounts of
power, particularly used in power supplies, power convidual resistors.
14
version circuits, and power ampliers, are generally referred to as power resistors; this designation is loosely applied to resistors with power ratings of 1 watt or greater.
Power resistors are physically larger and may not use the
preferred values, color codes, and external packages described below.
If the average power dissipated by a resistor is more than
its power rating, damage to the resistor may occur, permanently altering its resistance; this is distinct from the
reversible change in resistance due to its temperature coecient when it warms. Excessive power dissipation may
raise the temperature of the resistor to a point where it can
burn the circuit board or adjacent components, or even
cause a re. There are ameproof resistors that fail (open
circuit) before they overheat dangerously.
CHAPTER 3. RESISTOR
3.4 Fixed resistor
A single in line (SIL) resistor package with 8 individual, 47 ohm

resistors. One end of each resistor is connected to a separate pin
and the other ends are all connected together to the remaining
(common) pin pin 1, at the end identied by the white dot.
Since poor air circulation, high altitude, or high operating

temperatures may occur, resistors may be specied with
higher rated dissipation than will be experienced in ser- 3.4.1
vice.
Lead arrangements
All resistors have a maximum voltage rating; this may

limit the power dissipation for higher resistance values.
3.3 Nonideal properties

Practical resistors have a series inductance and a small
parallel capacitance; these specications can be important
in high-frequency applications. In a low-noise amplier
or pre-amp, the noise characteristics of a resistor may be
Resistors with wire leads for through-hole mounting
an issue.
The temperature coecient of the resistance may also be Through-hole components typically have leads (proof concern in some precision applications.
nounced to rhyme with reeds) leaving the body axiThe unwanted inductance, excess noise, and tempera- ally, that is, on a line parallel with the parts longest axis.
ture coecient are mainly dependent on the technology Others have leads coming o their body radially inused in manufacturing the resistor. They are not normally stead. Other components may be SMT (surface mount
specied individually for a particular family of resistors technology), while high power resistors may have one of
manufactured using a particular technology.[5] A family their leads designed into the heat sink.
of discrete resistors is also characterized according to its
form factor, that is, the size of the device and the position
of its leads (or terminals) which is relevant in the practical 3.4.2 Carbon composition
manufacturing of circuits using them.
Practical resistors are also specied as having a maximum Carbon composition resistors consist of a solid cylindripower rating which must exceed the anticipated power cal resistive element with embedded wire leads or metal
dissipation of that resistor in a particular circuit: this is end caps to which the lead wires are attached. The body
mainly of concern in power electronics applications. Re- of the resistor is protected with paint or plastic. Early
sistors with higher power ratings are physically larger and 20th-century carbon composition resistors had uninsumay require heat sinks. In a high-voltage circuit, attention lated bodies; the lead wires were wrapped around the ends
must sometimes be paid to the rated maximum working of the resistance element rod and soldered. The comvoltage of the resistor. While there is no minimum work- pleted resistor was painted for color-coding of its value.
ing voltage for a given resistor, failure to account for a The resistive element is made from a mixture of nely
resistors maximum rating may cause the resistor to in- ground (powdered) carbon and an insulating material
cinerate when current is run through it.
(usually ceramic). A resin holds the mixture together.
3.4. FIXED RESISTOR
15
Carbon lm resistor with exposed carbon spiral (Tesla TR-212 1

k)
Three carbon composition resistors in a 1960s valve (vacuum

tube) radio
3.4.4 Carbon lm
A carbon lm is deposited on an insulating substrate,
and a helix is cut in it to create a long, narrow resistive path. Varying shapes, coupled with the resistivity
of amorphous carbon (ranging from 500 to 800 m),
can provide a wide range of resistance values. Compared
to carbon composition they feature low noise, because
of the precise distribution of the pure graphite without
binding.[10] Carbon lm resistors feature a power rating
range of 0.125 W to 5 W at 70 C. Resistances available
range from 1 ohm to 10 megohm. The carbon lm resistor has an operating temperature range of 55 C to 155
C. It has 200 to 600 volts maximum working voltage
range. Special carbon lm resistors are used in applications requiring high pulse stability.[7]
The resistance is determined by the ratio of the ll material (the powdered ceramic) to the carbon. Higher
concentrations of carbon a good conductor result
in lower resistance. Carbon composition resistors were
commonly used in the 1960s and earlier, but are not
so popular for general use now as other types have better specications, such as tolerance, voltage dependence,
and stress (carbon composition resistors will change value
when stressed with over-voltages). Moreover, if internal
moisture content (from exposure for some length of time
to a humid environment) is signicant, soldering heat will
create a non-reversible change in resistance value. Carbon composition resistors have poor stability with time
and were consequently factory sorted to, at best, only 5% 3.4.5
tolerance.[6] These resistors, however, if never subjected
to overvoltage nor overheating were remarkably reliable
considering the components size.[7]
Printed carbon resistor
Carbon composition resistors are still available, but comparatively quite costly. Values ranged from fractions of
an ohm to 22 megohms. Due to their high price, these resistors are no longer used in most applications. However,
they are used in power supplies and welding controls.[7]
3.4.3
Carbon pile
A carbon pile resistor is made of a stack of carbon disks

compressed between two metal contact plates. Adjusting
the clamping pressure changes the resistance between the
plates. These resistors are used when an adjustable load
is required, for example in testing automotive batteries or
radio transmitters. A carbon pile resistor can also be used
as a speed control for small motors in household appliances (sewing machines, hand-held mixers) with ratings
up to a few hundred watts.[8] A carbon pile resistor can
be incorporated in automatic voltage regulators for generators, where the carbon pile controls the eld current
to maintain relatively constant voltage.[9] The principle is
also applied in the carbon microphone.
A carbon resistor printed directly onto the SMD pads on a PCB.

Inside a 1989 vintage Psion II Organiser
Carbon composition resistors can be printed directly onto

printed circuit board (PCB) substrates as part of the PCB
manufacturing process. Although this technique is more
common on hybrid PCB modules, it can also be used on
standard breglass PCBs. Tolerances are typically quite
large, and can be in the order of 30%. A typical application would be non-critical pull-up resistors.
3.4.6 Thick and thin lm

Thick lm resistors became popular during the 1970s,
and most SMD (surface mount device) resistors today are
16
CHAPTER 3. RESISTOR
850 C.
Thick lm resistors, when rst manufactured, had tolerances of 5%, but standard tolerances have improved to
2% or 1% in the last few decades. Temperature coefcients of thick lm resistors are high, typically 200 or
250 ppm/K; a 40 kelvin (70 F) temperature change can
change the resistance by 1%.
Laser Trimmed Precision Thin Film Resistor Network from

Fluke, used in the Keithley DMM7510 multimeter. Ceramic
backed with glass hermetic seal cover.
Thin lm resistors are usually far more expensive than

thick lm resistors. For example, SMD thin lm resistors, with 0.5% tolerances, and with 25 ppm/K temperature coecients, when bought in full size reel quantities,
are about twice the cost of 1%, 250 ppm/K thick lm
resistors.
of this type. The resistive element of thick lms is 1000 3.4.7 Metal lm
times thicker than thin lms,[11] but the principal dierence is how the lm is applied to the cylinder (axial resis- A common type of axial-leaded resistor today is the
tors) or the surface (SMD resistors).
metal-lm resistor. Metal Electrode Leadless Face
Thin lm resistors are made by sputtering (a method of (MELF) resistors often use the same technology, and
vacuum deposition) the resistive material onto an insulat- are also cylindrically shaped but are designed for surface
ing substrate. The lm is then etched in a similar manner mounting. Note that other types of resistors (e.g., carbon
to the old (subtractive) process for making printed cir- composition) are also available in MELF packages.
cuit boards; that is, the surface is coated with a photosensitive material, then covered by a pattern lm, irradiated with ultraviolet light, and then the exposed photosensitive coating is developed, and underlying thin lm is
etched away.
Thick lm resistors are manufactured using screen and
stencil printing processes.[7]
Metal lm resistors are usually coated with nickel

chromium (NiCr), but might be coated with any of the
cermet materials listed above for thin lm resistors. Unlike thin lm resistors, the material may be applied using
dierent techniques than sputtering (though this is one of
the techniques). Also, unlike thin-lm resistors, the resistance value is determined by cutting a helix through the
coating rather than by etching. (This is similar to the way
carbon resistors are made.) The result is a reasonable tolerance (0.5%, 1%, or 2%) and a temperature coecient
that is generally between 50 and 100 ppm/K.[12] Metal
lm resistors possess good noise characteristics and low
non-linearity due to a low voltage coecient. Also benecial are their tight tolerance, low temperature coecient
and long-term stability.[7]
Because the time during which the sputtering is performed can be controlled, the thickness of the thin lm
can be accurately controlled. The type of material is
also usually dierent consisting of one or more ceramic
(cermet) conductors such as tantalum nitride (TaN),
ruthenium oxide (RuO
2), lead oxide (PbO), bismuth ruthenate (Bi
2Ru
2O
7), nickel chromium (NiCr), or bismuth iridate (Bi
3.4.8 Metal oxide lm
2Ir
2O
Metal-oxide lm resistors are made of metal oxides such
7).
as tin oxide. This results in a higher operating temperaThe resistance of both thin and thick lm resistors af- ture and greater stability/reliability than Metal lm. They
ter manufacture is not highly accurate; they are usually are used in applications with high endurance demands.
trimmed to an accurate value by abrasive or laser trimming. Thin lm resistors are usually specied with tolerances of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, or 1%, and with temperature coecients of 5 to 25 ppm/K. They also have much lower
noise levels, on the level of 10100 times less than thick
lm resistors.
Thick lm resistors may use the same conductive ceramics, but they are mixed with sintered (powdered) glass
and a carrier liquid so that the composite can be screenprinted. This composite of glass and conductive ceramic
(cermet) material is then fused (baked) in an oven at about
3.4.9 Wire wound

Wirewound resistors are commonly made by winding a
metal wire, usually nichrome, around a ceramic, plastic,
or berglass core. The ends of the wire are soldered or
welded to two caps or rings, attached to the ends of the
core. The assembly is protected with a layer of paint,
molded plastic, or an enamel coating baked at high temperature. These resistors are designed to withstand unusually high temperatures of up to 450 C.[7] Wire leads
3.4. FIXED RESISTOR
17
frequency. The high frequency response of wirewound
resistors is substantially worse than that of a composition
resistor.[7]
3.4.10 Foil resistor
High-power wire wound resistors used for dynamic braking on

an electric railway car. Such resistors may dissipate many kilowatts for an extended length of time.
The primary resistance element of a foil resistor is a special alloy foil several micrometers thick. Since their introduction in the 1960s, foil resistors have had the best
precision and stability of any resistor available. One of
the important parameters inuencing stability is the temperature coecient of resistance (TCR). The TCR of foil
resistors is extremely low, and has been further improved
over the years. One range of ultra-precision foil resistors
oers a TCR of 0.14 ppm/C, tolerance 0.005%, longterm stability (1 year) 25 ppm, (3 years) 50 ppm (further
improved 5-fold by hermetic sealing), stability under load
(2000 hours) 0.03%, thermal EMF 0.1 V/C, noise 42
dB, voltage coecient 0.1 ppm/V, inductance 0.08 H,
capacitance 0.5 pF.[13]
3.4.11 Ammeter shunts
Types of windings in wire resistors:

1. common
2. bilar
3. common on a thin former
4. Ayrton-Perry
An ammeter shunt is a special type of current-sensing

resistor, having four terminals and a value in milliohms
or even micro-ohms. Current-measuring instruments, by
themselves, can usually accept only limited currents. To
measure high currents, the current passes through the
shunt across which the voltage drop is measured and interpreted as current. A typical shunt consists of two solid
metal blocks, sometimes brass, mounted on an insulating base. Between the blocks, and soldered or brazed to
them, are one or more strips of low temperature coefcient of resistance (TCR) manganin alloy. Large bolts
threaded into the blocks make the current connections,
while much smaller screws provide volt meter connections. Shunts are rated by full-scale current, and often
have a voltage drop of 50 mV at rated current. Such meters are adapted to the shunt full current rating by using
an appropriately marked dial face; no change need to be
made to the other parts of the meter.
in low power wirewound resistors are usually between 0.6

and 0.8 mm in diameter and tinned for ease of soldering. For higher power wirewound resistors, either a ceramic outer case or an aluminum outer case on top of
an insulating layer is used if the outer case is ceramic,
such resistors are sometimes described as cement resistors, though they do not actually contain any traditional
cement. The aluminum-cased types are designed to be
attached to a heat sink to dissipate the heat; the rated
power is dependent on being used with a suitable heat
sink, e.g., a 50 W power rated resistor will overheat at a 3.4.12 Grid resistor
fraction of the power dissipation if not used with a heat
sink. Large wirewound resistors may be rated for 1,000 In heavy-duty industrial high-current applications, a grid
resistor is a large convection-cooled lattice of stamped
watts or more.
metal alloy strips connected in rows between two elecBecause wirewound resistors are coils they have more un- trodes. Such industrial grade resistors can be as large
desirable inductance than other types of resistor, although as a refrigerator; some designs can handle over 500 amwinding the wire in sections with alternately reversed di- peres of current, with a range of resistances extending
rection can minimize inductance. Other techniques em- lower than 0.04 ohms. They are used in applications such
ploy bilar winding, or a at thin former (to reduce cross- as dynamic braking and load banking for locomotives
section area of the coil). For the most demanding circuits, and trams, neutral grounding for industrial AC distriburesistors with Ayrton-Perry winding are used.
tion, control loads for cranes and heavy equipment, load
Applications of wirewound resistors are similar to those testing of generators and harmonic ltering for electric
of composition resistors with the exception of the high substations.[14][15]
18
CHAPTER 3. RESISTOR
The term grid resistor is sometimes used to describe a 3.5.3

resistor of any type connected to the control grid of a
vacuum tube. This is not a resistor technology; it is an
electronic circuit topology.
3.4.13
Resistance decade boxes
Special varieties
Cermet
Phenolic
Tantalum
Water resistor
3.5 Variable resistors

3.5.1
Adjustable resistors
A resistor may have one or more xed tapping points so

that the resistance can be changed by moving the connecting wires to dierent terminals. Some wirewound power
resistors have a tapping point that can slide along the resistance element, allowing a larger or smaller part of the
resistance to be used.
Where continuous adjustment of the resistance value during operation of equipment is required, the sliding resistance tap can be connected to a knob accessible to an operator. Such a device is called a rheostat and has two
terminals.
3.5.2
Potentiometers
Main article: Potentiometer

A potentiometer or pot is a three-terminal resistor with a
continuously adjustable tapping point controlled by rotation of a shaft or knob or by a linear slider. It is called
a potentiometer because it can be connected as an adjustable voltage divider to provide a variable potential at
the terminal connected to the tapping point. A volume
control for an audio device is a common use of a potentiometer.
Resistance decade box KURBELWIDERSTAND, made in former East Germany.
A resistance decade box or resistor substitution box is

a unit containing resistors of many values, with one or
more mechanical switches which allow any one of various discrete resistances oered by the box to be dialed
in. Usually the resistance is accurate to high precision,
ranging from laboratory/calibration grade accuracy of 20
parts per million, to eld grade at 1%. Inexpensive boxes
with lesser accuracy are also available. All types oer a
convenient way of selecting and quickly changing a resistance in laboratory, experimental and development work
without needing to attach resistors one by one, or even
stock each value. The range of resistance provided, the
maximum resolution, and the accuracy characterize the
box. For example, one box oers resistances from 0 to
100 megohms, maximum resolution 0.1 ohm, accuracy
0.1%.[16]
3.5.4 Special devices
There are various devices whose resistance changes with

various quantities. The resistance of NTC thermistors
exhibit a strong negative temperature coecient, making them useful for measuring temperatures. Since their
resistance can be large until they are allowed to heat up
due to the passage of current, they are also commonly
used to prevent excessive current surges when equipment
is powered on. Similarly, the resistance of a humistor
Accurate, high-resolution panel-mounted potentiometers varies with humidity. One sort of photodetector, the
have resistance elements typically wirewound on a heli- photoresistor, has a resistance which varies with illumical mandrel, although some include a conductive-plastic nation.
resistance coating over the wire to improve resolution. The strain gauge, invented by Edward E. Simmons and
These typically oer ten turns of their shafts to cover Arthur C. Ruge in 1938, is a type of resistor that changes
their full range. They are usually set with dials that in- value with applied strain. A single resistor may be used,
clude a simple turns counter and a graduated dial. Elec- or a pair (half bridge), or four resistors connected in a
tronic analog computers used them in quantity for setting Wheatstone bridge conguration. The strain resistor is
coecients, and delayed-sweep oscilloscopes of recent bonded with adhesive to an object that will be subjected
to mechanical strain. With the strain gauge and a lter,
decades included one on their panels.
3.8. RESISTOR MARKING

amplier, and analog/digital converter, the strain on an
object can be measured.
A related but more recent invention uses a Quantum Tunnelling Composite to sense mechanical stress. It passes a
current whose magnitude can vary by a factor of 1012 in
response to changes in applied pressure.
3.6 Measurement
The value of a resistor can be measured with an
ohmmeter, which may be one function of a multimeter.
Usually, probes on the ends of test leads connect to the
resistor. A simple ohmmeter may apply a voltage from
a battery across the unknown resistor (with an internal
resistor of a known value in series) producing a current
which drives a meter movement. The current, in accordance with Ohms law, is inversely proportional to
the sum of the internal resistance and the resistor being
tested, resulting in an analog meter scale which is very
non-linear, calibrated from innity to 0 ohms. A digital
multimeter, using active electronics, may instead pass a
specied current through the test resistance. The voltage
generated across the test resistance in that case is linearly
proportional to its resistance, which is measured and displayed. In either case the low-resistance ranges of the
meter pass much more current through the test leads than
do high-resistance ranges, in order for the voltages present
to be at reasonable levels (generally below 10 volts) but
still measurable.
Measuring low-value resistors, such as fractional-ohm resistors, with acceptable accuracy requires four-terminal
connections. One pair of terminals applies a known, calibrated current to the resistor, while the other pair senses
the voltage drop across the resistor. Some laboratory
quality ohmmeters, especially milliohmmeters, and even
some of the better digital multimeters sense using four
input terminals for this purpose, which may be used with
special test leads. Each of the two so-called Kelvin clips
has a pair of jaws insulated from each other. One side of
each clip applies the measuring current, while the other
connections are only to sense the voltage drop. The resistance is again calculated using Ohms Law as the measured voltage divided by the applied current.
3.7 Standards
3.7.1
Production resistors
19
BS 1852
EIA-RS-279
MIL-PRF-26
MIL-PRF-39007 (Fixed Power, established reliability)
MIL-PRF-55342 (Surface-mount thick and thin
lm)
MIL-PRF-914
MIL-R-11 STANDARD CANCELED
MIL-R-39017 (Fixed, General Purpose, Established Reliability)
MIL-PRF-32159 (zero ohm jumpers)
UL 1412 (fusing and temperature limited resistors)
[18]
There are other United States military procurement MILR- standards.
3.7.2 Resistance standards

The primary standard for resistance, the mercury ohm
was initially dened in 1884 in as a column of mercury
106.3 cm long and 1 square millimeter in cross-section,
at 0 degrees Celsius. Diculties in precisely measuring
the physical constants to replicate this standard result in
variations of as much as 30 ppm. From 1900 the mercury ohm was replaced with a precision machined plate
of manganin.[19] Since 1990 the international resistance
standard has been based on the quantized Hall eect discovered by Klaus von Klitzing, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1985.[20]
Resistors of extremely high precision are manufactured
for calibration and laboratory use. They may have four
terminals, using one pair to carry an operating current and
the other pair to measure the voltage drop; this eliminates
errors caused by voltage drops across the lead resistances,
because no charge ows through voltage sensing leads. It
is important in small value resistors (1000.0001 ohm)
where lead resistance is signicant or even comparable
with respect to resistance standard value.[21]
3.8 Resistor marking
Resistor characteristics are quantied and reported using Main article: Electronic color code
various national standards. In the US, MIL-STD-202[17]
contains the relevant test methods to which other stan- Most axial resistors use a pattern of colored stripes to indards refer.
dicate resistance, which also indicate tolerance, and may
There are various standards specifying properties of re- also be extended to show temperature coecient and relisistors for use in equipment:
ability class. Cases are usually tan, brown, blue, or green,
20
CHAPTER 3. RESISTOR
though other colors are occasionally found such as dark tual values used are in the IEC 60063 lists of preferred
red or dark gray. The power rating is not usually marked numbers.
and is deduced from the size.
A resistor of 100 ohms 20% would be expected to have a
The color bands of the carbon resistors can be three, four, value between 80 and 120 ohms; its E6 neighbors are 68
ve or, six bands. The rst two bands represent rst two (5482) and 150 (120180) ohms. A sensible spacing,
digits to measure their value in ohms. The third band of E6 is used for 20% components; E12 for 10%; E24
a three- or four-banded resistor represents multiplier; a for 5%; E48 for 2%, E96 for 1%; E192 for 0.5% or
fourth band denotes tolerance (which if absent, denotes better. Resistors are manufactured in values from a few
20%). For ve and six color-banded resistors, the third milliohms to about a gigaohm in IEC60063 ranges apband is a third digit, fourth band multiplier and fth is propriate for their tolerance. Manufacturers may sort retolerance. The sixth band represents temperature co- sistors into tolerance-classes based on measurement. Acecient in a six-banded resistor.
cordingly a selection of 100 ohms resistors with a tolerSurface-mount resistors are marked numerically, if they ance of 10%, might not lie just around 100 ohm (but no
are big enough to permit marking; more-recent small more than 10% o) as one would expect (a bell-curve),
but rather be in two groups either between 5 to 10% too
sizes are impractical to mark.
high or 5 to 10% too low (but not closer to 100 ohm than
Early 20th century resistors, essentially uninsulated, were that) because any resistors the factory had measured as
dipped in paint to cover their entire body for color- being less than 5% o would have been marked and sold
coding. A second color of paint was applied to one end as resistors with only 5% tolerance or better. When deof the element, and a color dot (or band) in the middle signing a circuit, this may become a consideration.
provided the third digit. The rule was body, tip, dot,
providing two signicant digits for value and the deci- Earlier power wirewound resistors, such as brown
vitreous-enameled types, however, were made with a difmal multiplier, in that sequence. Default tolerance was
20%. Closer-tolerance resistors had silver (10%) or ferent system of preferred values, such as some of those
mentioned in the rst sentence of this section.
gold-colored (5%) paint on the other end.
3.8.1
Preferred values
3.8.2 SMT resistors
See also: Preferred number E series

Early resistors were made in more or less arbitrary round
numbers; a series might have 100, 125, 150, 200, 300,
etc. Resistors as manufactured are subject to a certain
percentage tolerance, and it makes sense to manufacture
values that correlate with the tolerance, so that the actual value of a resistor overlaps slightly with its neighbors. Wider spacing leaves gaps; narrower spacing increases manufacturing and inventory costs to provide resistors that are more or less interchangeable.
A logical scheme is to produce resistors in a range of
values which increase in a geometric progression, so that
each value is greater than its predecessor by a xed multiplier or percentage, chosen to match the tolerance of the
range. For example, for a tolerance of 20% it makes
sense to have each resistor about 1.5 times its predecessor, covering a decade in 6 values. In practice the factor
used is 1.4678, giving values of 1.47, 2.15, 3.16, 4.64,
6.81, 10 for the 110-decade (a decade is a range increasing by a factor of 10; 0.11 and 10100 are other
examples); these are rounded in practice to 1.5, 2.2, 3.3,
4.7, 6.8, 10; followed, by 15, 22, 33, and preceded
by 0.47, 0.68, 1. This scheme has been adopted as
the E6 series of the IEC 60063 preferred number values.
There are also E12, E24, E48, E96 and E192 series for
components of progressively ner resolution, with 12, 24,
96, and 192 dierent values within each decade. The ac-
This image shows four surface-mount resistors (the component

at the upper left is a capacitor) including two zero-ohm resistors.
Zero-ohm links are often used instead of wire links, so that they
can be inserted by a resistor-inserting machine. Their resistance
is non-zero but negligible.
Surface mounted resistors are printed with numerical

values in a code related to that used on axial resistors.
Standard-tolerance surface-mount technology (SMT) resistors are marked with a three-digit code, in which the
rst two digits are the rst two signicant digits of the
value and the third digit is the power of ten (the number
of zeroes). For example:
3.10. FAILURE MODES
21
Resistances less than 100 ohms are written: 100, 220, bulk metal foil resistors may have a noise index of 40
470. The nal zero represents ten to the power zero, dB, usually making the excess noise of metal foil resistors
which is 1. For example:
insignicant.[23] Thin lm surface mount resistors typiSometimes these values are marked as 10 or 22 to prevent cally have lower noise and better thermal stability than
thick lm surface mount resistors. Excess noise is also
a mistake.
size-dependent: in general excess noise is reduced as the
Resistances less than 10 ohms have 'R' to indicate the po- physical size of a resistor is increased (or multiple resissition of the decimal point (radix point). For example:
tors are used in parallel), as the independently uctuating
Precision resistors are marked with a four-digit code, in resistances of smaller components will tend to average
which the rst three digits are the signicant gures and out.
the fourth is the power of ten. For example:
While not an example of noise per se, a resistor may act
000 and 0000 sometimes appear as values on surface- as a thermocouple, producing a small DC voltage diermount zero-ohm links, since these have (approximately) ential across it due to the thermoelectric eect if its ends
are at dierent temperatures. This induced DC voltage
zero resistance.
can degrade the precision of instrumentation ampliers
More recent surface-mount resistors are too small, phys- in particular. Such voltages appear in the junctions of the
ically, to permit practical markings to be applied.
resistor leads with the circuit board and with the resistor
body. Common metal lm resistors show such an eect
at a magnitude of about 20 V/C. Some carbon compo3.8.3 Industrial type designation
sition resistors can exhibit thermoelectric osets as high
as 400 V/C, whereas specially constructed resistors can
Format: [two letters]<space>[resistance value (three reduce this number to 0.05 V/C. In applications where
digit)]<nospace>[tolerance code(numerical one digit)] the thermoelectric eect may become important, care has
[22]
to be taken to mount the resistors horizontally to avoid
temperature gradients and to mind the air ow over the
board.[24]
3.9 Electrical and thermal noise

Main article: Noise (electronics)
3.10 Failure modes
The failure rate of resistors in a properly designed circuit

is low compared to other electronic components such as
semiconductors and electrolytic capacitors. Damage to
resistors most often occurs due to overheating when the
average power delivered to it (as computed above) greatly
exceeds its ability to dissipate heat (specied by the resistors power rating). This may be due to a fault external to
the circuit, but is frequently caused by the failure of another component (such as a transistor that shorts out) in
the circuit connected to the resistor. Operating a resistor
too close to its power rating can limit the resistors lifespan or cause a signicant change in its resistance. A safe
The thermal noise of a practical resistor may also be design generally uses overrated resistors in power applilarger than the theoretical prediction and that increase is cations to avoid this danger.
typically frequency-dependent. Excess noise of a practi- Low-power thin-lm resistors can be damaged by longcal resistor is observed only when current ows through it. term high-voltage stress, even below maximum specied
This is specied in unit of V/V/decade V of noise per voltage and below maximum power rating. This is often
volt applied across the resistor per decade of frequency. the case for the startup resistors feeding the SMPS inteThe V/V/decade value is frequently given in dB so that grated circuit.
a resistor with a noise index of 0 dB will exhibit 1 V
resistors may decrease or
(rms) of excess noise for each volt across the resistor in When overheated, carbon-lm
[25]
Carbon
lm and composition
increase
in
resistance.
each frequency decade. Excess noise is thus an example
resistors
can
fail
(open
circuit)
if
running
close to their
of 1/f noise. Thick-lm and carbon composition resistors
maximum
dissipation.
This
is
also
possible
but
less likely
generate more excess noise than other types at low frewith
metal
lm
and
wirewound
resistors.
quencies. Wire-wound and thin-lm resistors are often
used for their better noise characteristics. Carbon com- There can also be failure of resistors due to mechanical
position resistors can exhibit a noise index of 0 dB while stress and adverse environmental factors including huIn amplifying faint signals, it is often necessary to minimize electronic noise, particularly in the rst stage of amplication. As a dissipative element, even an ideal resistor
will naturally produce a randomly uctuating voltage or
noise across its terminals. This JohnsonNyquist noise
is a fundamental noise source which depends only upon
the temperature and resistance of the resistor, and is predicted by the uctuationdissipation theorem. Using a
larger value of resistance produces a larger voltage noise,
whereas with a smaller value of resistance there will be
more current noise, at a given temperature.
22
midity. If not enclosed, wirewound resistors can corrode.
Surface mount resistors have been known to fail due to
the ingress of sulfur into the internal makeup of the resistor. This sulfur chemically reacts with the silver layer
to produce non-conductive silver sulde. The resistors
impedance goes to innity. Sulfur resistant and anticorrosive resistors are sold into automotive, industrial,
and military applications. ASTM B809 is an industry
standard that tests a parts susceptibility to sulfur.
An alternative failure mode can be encountered where
large value resistors are used (hundreds of kilohms and
higher). Resistors are not only specied with a maximum
power dissipation, but also for a maximum voltage drop.
Exceeding this voltage will cause the resistor to degrade
slowly reducing in resistance. The voltage dropped across
large value resistors can be exceeded before the power
dissipation reaches its limiting value. Since the maximum
voltage specied for commonly encountered resistors is a
few hundred volts, this is a problem only in applications
where these voltages are encountered.
Variable resistors can also degrade in a dierent manner, typically involving poor contact between the wiper
and the body of the resistance. This may be due to dirt
or corrosion and is typically perceived as crackling as
the contact resistance uctuates; this is especially noticed
as the device is adjusted. This is similar to crackling
caused by poor contact in switches, and like switches,
potentiometers are to some extent self-cleaning: running
the wiper across the resistance may improve the contact.
Potentiometers which are seldom adjusted, especially in
dirty or harsh environments, are most likely to develop
this problem. When self-cleaning of the contact is insucient, improvement can usually be obtained through
the use of contact cleaner (also known as tuner cleaner)
spray. The crackling noise associated with turning the
shaft of a dirty potentiometer in an audio circuit (such as
the volume control) is greatly accentuated when an undesired DC voltage is present, often indicating the failure of
a DC blocking capacitor in the circuit.
CHAPTER 3. RESISTOR
3.12 References
[1] Douglas Wilhelm Harder. Resistors: A Motor with a
Constant Force (Force Source)". Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo.
Retrieved 9 November 2014.
[2] Farago, PS, An Introduction to Linear Network Analysis,
pp. 1821, The English Universities Press Ltd, 1961.
[3] F Y Wu (2004). Theory of resistor networks: The
two-point resistance. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General 37 (26): 6653. doi:10.1088/03054470/37/26/004.
[4] Fa Yueh Wu; Chen Ning Yang (15 March 2009). Exactly
Solved Models: A Journey in Statistical Mechanics : Selected Papers with Commentaries (19632008). World
Scientic. pp. 489. ISBN 978-981-281-388-6. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
[5] A family of resistors may also be characterized according
to its critical resistance. Applying a constant voltage across
resistors in that family below the critical resistance will
exceed the maximum power rating rst; resistances larger
than the critical resistance will fail rst from exceeding
the maximum voltage rating. See Wendy Middleton; Mac
E. Van Valkenburg (2002). Reference data for engineers:
radio, electronics, computer, and communications (9 ed.).
Newnes. pp. 510. ISBN 0-7506-7291-9.
[6] James H. Harter, Paul Y. Lin, Essentials of electric circuits,
pp. 9697, Reston Publishing Company, 1982 ISBN 08359-1767-3.
[7] Vishay Beyschlag Basics of Linear Fixed Resistors Application Note, Document Number 28771, 2008.
[8] C. G. Morris (ed) Academic Press Dictionary of Science
and Technology, Gulf Professional Publishing, 1992 ISBN
0122004000, page 360
[9] Principles of automotive vehicles United States. Dept. of
the Army, 1985 page 13-13
[10] Carbon Film Resistor. The Resistorguide. Retrieved 10
March 2013.
3.11 See also

thermistor
piezoresistor
Circuit design
Dummy load
Electrical impedance
Iron-hydrogen resistor
Shot noise
Trimmer (electronics)
[11] Thick Film and Thin Film (PDF). Digi-Key (SEI). Retrieved 23 July 2011.
[12] Kenneth A. Kuhn. Measuring the Temperature Coecient of a Resistor (PDF). Retrieved 2010-03-18.
[13] Alpha Electronics Corp. Metal Foil Resistors. Alphaelec.co.jp. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
[14] Milwaukee Resistor Corporation. ''Grid Resistors: High
Power/High Current''. Milwaukeeresistor.com. Retrieved
on 2012-05-14.
[15] Avtron Loadbank. ''Grid Resistors'. Avtron.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-14.
[16] Decade Box Resistance Decade Boxes. Ietlabs.com.
Retrieved 2008-09-22.
3.13. EXTERNAL LINKS
23
[17] Test method standard: electronic and electrical component parts (PDF). Department of Defense.
[18] http://ulstandardsinfonet.ul.com/scopes/scopes.asp?fn=
1412.html
[19] Stability of
NIST.gov
Double-Walled
Manganin
Resistors.
[20] Klaus von Klitzing The Quantized Hall Eect. Nobel lecture, December 9, 1985. nobelprize.org
[21] Standard Resistance Unit Type 4737B. Tinsley.co.uk.
[22] A. K. Maini Electronics and Communications Simplied,
9th ed., Khanna Publications (India)
[23] Audio Noise Reduction Through the Use of Bulk Metal Foil
Resistors Hear the Dierence (PDF)., Application note
AN0003, Vishay Intertechnology Inc, 12 July 2005.
[24] Walt Jung. Chapter 7 Hardware and Housekeeping
Techniques (PDF). Op Amp Applications Handbook. p.
7.11. ISBN 0-7506-7844-5.
[25] Electronic components resistors. Inspectors Technical Guide. US Food and Drug Administration. 1978-0116. Archived from the original on 2008-04-03. Retrieved
2008-06-11.
3.13 External links

4-terminal resistors How ultra-precise resistors
work
Beginners guide to potentiometers, including description of dierent tapers
Color Coded Resistance Calculator archived with
WayBack Machine
Resistor Types Does It Matter?
Standard Resistors & Capacitor Values That Industry Manufactures
Ask The Applications Engineer Dierence between types of resistors
Resistors and their uses
Thick lm resistors and heaters
Chapter 4
Transistor
For other uses, see Transistor (disambiguation).
eld of electronics, and paved the way for smaller and
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify cheaper radios, calculators, and computers, among other
things. The transistor is on the list of IEEE milestones in
electronics,[1] and the inventors were jointly awarded the
1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their achievement.[2]
4.1 History
Main article: History of the transistor
The thermionic triode, a vacuum tube invented in 1907
Assorted discrete transistors. Packages in order from top to bottom: TO-3, TO-126, TO-92, SOT-23
and switch electronic signals and electrical power. It is

composed of semiconductor material with at least three
terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage
or current applied to one pair of the transistors terminals
changes the current through another pair of terminals.
Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than
the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a
signal. Today, some transistors are packaged individually, but many more are found embedded in integrated
circuits.
The transistor is the fundamental building block of modern electronic devices, and is ubiquitous in modern electronic systems. Following its development in 1947
by American physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain,
and William Shockley, the transistor revolutionized the
A replica of the rst working transistor.
enabled amplied radio technology and long-distance

telephony. The triode, however, was a fragile device that
consumed a lot of power. Physicist Julius Edgar Lilienfeld led a patent for a eld-eect transistor (FET) in
Canada in 1925, which was intended to be a solid-state
replacement for the triode.[3][4] Lilienfeld also led identical patents in the United States in 1926[5] and 1928.[6][7]
However, Lilienfeld did not publish any research articles
about his devices nor did his patents cite any specic examples of a working prototype. Because the production
of high-quality semiconductor materials was still decades
away, Lilienfelds solid-state amplier ideas would not
have found practical use in the 1920s and 1930s, even if
such a device had been built.[8] In 1934, German inventor
24
4.2. IMPORTANCE
Oskar Heil patented a similar device.[9]
25
Bell Labs scientists had already invented the transistor
before them, the company rushed to get its transistron
into production for amplied use in Frances telephone
network.[15]
John Bardeen, William Shockley and Walter Brattain at Bell

Labs, 1948.
From November 17, 1947 to December 23, 1947, John

Bardeen and Walter Brattain at AT&T's Bell Labs in the
United States, performed experiments and observed that
when two gold point contacts were applied to a crystal of germanium, a signal was produced with the output power greater than the input.[10] Solid State Physics
Group leader William Shockley saw the potential in this,
and over the next few months worked to greatly expand
the knowledge of semiconductors. The term transistor was coined by John R. Pierce as a contraction of
the term transresistance.[11][12][13] According to Lillian
Hoddeson and Vicki Daitch, authors of a biography of
John Bardeen, Shockley had proposed that Bell Labs rst
patent for a transistor should be based on the eld-eect
and that he be named as the inventor. Having unearthed
Lilienfelds patents that went into obscurity years earlier, lawyers at Bell Labs advised against Shockleys proposal because the idea of a eld-eect transistor that used
an electric eld as a grid was not new. Instead, what
Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley invented in 1947 was
the rst point-contact transistor.[8] In acknowledgement
of this accomplishment, Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain
were jointly awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for
their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of
the transistor eect.[14]
Philco surface-barrier transistor developed and produced in

1953
The rst high-frequency transistor was the surface-barrier

germanium transistor developed by Philco in 1953, capable of operating up to 60 MHz.[16] These were made
by etching depressions into an N-type germanium base
from both sides with jets of Indium(III) sulfate until it
was a few ten-thousandths of an inch thick. Indium electroplated into the depressions formed the collector and
emitter.[17][18] The rst all-transistor car radio, which was
produced in 1955 by Chrysler and Philco, used these transistors in its circuitry and also they were the rst suitable
for high-speed computers.[19][20][21][22]
The rst working silicon transistor was developed at Bell

Labs on January 26, 1954 by Morris Tanenbaum. The
rst commercial silicon transistor was produced by Texas
Instruments in 1954. This was the work of Gordon Teal,
an expert in growing crystals of high purity, who had previously worked at Bell Labs. [23][24][25] The rst MOS
In 1948, the point-contact transistor was independently transistor actually built was by Kahng and Atalla at Bell
invented by German physicists Herbert Matar and Labs in 1960.[26]
Heinrich Welker while working at the Compagnie des
Freins et Signaux, a Westinghouse subsidiary located
in Paris. Matar had previous experience in developing crystal rectiers from silicon and germanium in the 4.2 Importance
German radar eort during World War II. Using this
knowledge, he began researching the phenomenon of The transistor is the key active component in practically
"interference" in 1947. By June 1948, witnessing cur- all modern electronics. Many consider it to be one of the
rents owing through point-contacts, Matar produced greatest inventions of the 20th century.[27] Its importance
consistent results using samples of germanium produced in todays society rests on its ability to be mass-produced
by Welker, similar to what Bardeen and Brattain had ac- using a highly automated process (semiconductor device
complished earlier in December 1947. Realizing that fabrication) that achieves astonishingly low per-transistor
26
CHAPTER 4. TRANSISTOR
VCC
VOUT
collector
VIN
base
emitter
A Darlington transistor opened up so the actual transistor chip

(the small square) can be seen inside. A Darlington transistor
is eectively two transistors on the same chip. One transistor is
much larger than the other, but both are large in comparison to
transistors in large-scale integration because this particular example is intended for power applications.
A simple circuit diagram to show the labels of a npn bipolar

transistor.
costs. The invention of the rst transistor at Bell Labs was

named an IEEE Milestone in 2009.[28]
ferences in how they are used in a circuit. A bipolar tranAlthough several companies each produce over a billion sistor has terminals labeled base, collector, and emitter.
individually packaged (known as discrete) transistors ev- A small current at the base terminal (that is, owing beery year,[29] the vast majority of transistors are now pro- tween the base and the emitter) can control or switch a
duced in integrated circuits (often shortened to IC, mi- much larger current between the collector and emitter tercrochips or simply chips), along with diodes, resistors, minals. For a eld-eect transistor, the terminals are lacapacitors and other electronic components, to produce beled gate, source, and drain, and a voltage at the gate
complete electronic circuits. A logic gate consists of up can control a current between source and drain.
to about twenty transistors whereas an advanced micro- The image to the right represents a typical bipolar tranprocessor, as of 2009, can use as many as 3 billion transis- sistor in a circuit. Charge will ow between emitter and
tors (MOSFETs).[30] About 60 million transistors were collector terminals depending on the current in the base.
built in 2002 ... for [each] man, woman, and child on Because internally the base and emitter connections beEarth.[31]
have like a semiconductor diode, a voltage drop develops
The transistors low cost, exibility, and reliability have
made it a ubiquitous device. Transistorized mechatronic
circuits have replaced electromechanical devices in controlling appliances and machinery. It is often easier and
cheaper to use a standard microcontroller and write a
computer program to carry out a control function than
to design an equivalent mechanical control function.
4.3 Simplied operation

The essential usefulness of a transistor comes from its
ability to use a small signal applied between one pair of its
terminals to control a much larger signal at another pair
of terminals. This property is called gain. It can produce
a stronger output signal, a voltage or current, that is proportional to a weaker input signal; that is, it can act as
an amplier. Alternatively, the transistor can be used to
turn current on or o in a circuit as an electrically controlled switch, where the amount of current is determined
by other circuit elements.
between base and emitter while the base current exists.

The amount of this voltage depends on the material the
transistor is made from, and is referred to as VBE.
4.3.1 Transistor as a switch
IBE
1k
+6V
ICE
BJT used as an electronic switch, in grounded-emitter congura-
There are two types of transistors, which have slight dif- tion.
4.4. COMPARISON WITH VACUUM TUBES
27
Transistors are commonly used as electronic switches,

both for high-power applications such as switched-mode
power supplies and for low-power applications such as
logic gates.
The common-emitter amplier is designed so that a small

change in voltage (V ) changes the small current through
the base of the transistor; the transistors current amplication combined with the properties of the circuit mean
In a grounded-emitter transistor circuit, such as the light- that small swings in V produce large changes in V .
switch circuit shown, as the base voltage rises, the emitter Various congurations of single transistor amplier are
and collector currents rise exponentially. The collector possible, with some providing current gain, some voltage
voltage drops because of reduced resistance from collec- gain, and some both.
tor to emitter. If the voltage dierence between the col- From mobile phones to televisions, vast numbers of prodlector and emitter were zero (or near zero), the collector ucts include ampliers for sound reproduction, radio
current would be limited only by the load resistance (light transmission, and signal processing. The rst discretebulb) and the supply voltage. This is called saturation be- transistor audio ampliers barely supplied a few huncause current is owing from collector to emitter freely. dred milliwatts, but power and audio delity gradually
When saturated, the switch is said to be on.[32]
increased as better transistors became available and amProviding sucient base drive current is a key problem in
the use of bipolar transistors as switches. The transistor
provides current gain, allowing a relatively large current
in the collector to be switched by a much smaller current into the base terminal. The ratio of these currents
varies depending on the type of transistor, and even for a
particular type, varies depending on the collector current.
In the example light-switch circuit shown, the resistor is
chosen to provide enough base current to ensure the transistor will be saturated.
plier architecture evolved.

Modern transistor audio ampliers of up to a few hundred
watts are common and relatively inexpensive.
4.4 Comparison
tubes
with
vacuum
Prior to the development of transistors, vacuum (elecIn any switching circuit, values of input voltage would be tron) tubes (or in the UK thermionic valves or just
chosen such that the output is either completely o,[33] or valves) were the main active components in electronic
completely on. The transistor is acting as a switch, and equipment.
this type of operation is common in digital circuits where
only on and o values are relevant.
4.4.1 Advantages
4.3.2
Transistor as an amplier
The key advantages that have allowed transistors to replace their vacuum tube predecessors in most applications are
V+
R1
Vin
Cin
RC
C
No power consumption by a cathode heater; the

characteristic orange glow of vacuum tubes is due
to a simple electrical heating element, much like a
light bulb lament.
Vout
Cout
RE
Low operating voltages compatible with batteries of

only a few cells.
No warm-up period for cathode heaters required after power application.
R2
Small size and minimal weight, allowing the development of miniaturized electronic devices.
CE
Lower power dissipation and generally greater energy eciency.

Higher reliability and greater physical ruggedness.
Extremely long life. Some transistorized devices
have been in service for more than 50 years.
Amplier circuit, common-emitter conguration with a voltagedivider bias circuit.
Complementary devices available, facilitating the

design of complementary-symmetry circuits, something not possible with vacuum tubes.
28
Greatly reduced sensitivity to mechanical shock

and vibration, thus reducing the problem of
microphonics in sensitive applications, such as audio.
4.4.2
Limitations
Silicon transistors can age and fail.[34]

High-power, high-frequency operation, such as that
used in over-the-air television broadcasting, is better
achieved in vacuum tubes due to improved electron
mobility in a vacuum.
term fT , an abbreviation for transition frequency

the frequency of transition is the frequency at which
the transistor yields unity gain)
Application: switch, general purpose, audio, high
voltage, super-beta, matched pair
Physical packaging: through-hole metal, throughhole plastic, surface mount, ball grid array, power
modulessee Packaging
Amplication factor h , F (transistor beta)[36] or
g (transconductance).
Thus, a particular transistor may be described as silicon,

Solid-state devices are more vulnerable to
surface-mount, BJT, npn, low-power, high-frequency
electrostatic discharge in handling and operaswitch.
tion
A vacuum tube momentarily overloaded will just get
a little hotter; solid-state devices have less mass to 4.5.1 Bipolar junction transistor (BJT)
absorb the heat due to overloads, in proportion to
Main article: Bipolar junction transistor
their rating
Sensitivity to radiation and cosmic rays (special
Bipolar transistors are so named because they conduct by
radiation-hardened chips are used for spacecraft deusing both majority and minority carriers. The bipolar
vices).
junction transistor, the rst type of transistor to be mass Vacuum tubes create a distortion, the so-called tube produced, is a combination of two junction diodes, and
sound, which some people nd to be more tolerable is formed of either a thin layer of p-type semiconductor sandwiched between two n-type semiconductors (an
to the ear.[35]
npn transistor), or a thin layer of n-type semiconductor sandwiched between two p-type semiconductors (a
pnp transistor). This construction produces two pn
4.5 Types
junctions: a baseemitter junction and a basecollector
junction, separated by a thin region of semiconductor
BJT and JFET symbols
known as the base region (two junction diodes wired toJFET and IGFET symbols
gether without sharing an intervening semiconducting region will not make a transistor).
Transistors are categorized by
Semiconductor material (date rst used): the
metalloids germanium (1947) and silicon (1954)
in amorphous, polycrystalline and monocrystalline
form; the compounds gallium arsenide (1966) and
silicon carbide (1997), the alloy silicon-germanium
(1989), the allotrope of carbon graphene (research
ongoing since 2004), etc.see Semiconductor material
Structure:
BJT, JFET, IGFET (MOSFET),
insulated-gate bipolar transistor, other types
Electrical polarity (positive and negative): npn,
pnp (BJTs); n-channel, p-channel (FETs)
Maximum power rating: low, medium, high
Maximum operating frequency: low, medium, high,
radio (RF), microwave frequency (the maximum effective frequency of a transistor is denoted by the
BJTs have three terminals, corresponding to the three

layers of semiconductoran emitter, a base, and a collector. They are useful in ampliers because the currents at the emitter and collector are controllable by a
relatively small base current.[37] In an npn transistor
operating in the active region, the emitterbase junction
is forward biased (electrons and holes recombine at the
junction), and electrons are injected into the base region. Because the base is narrow, most of these electrons will diuse into the reverse-biased (electrons and
holes are formed at, and move away from the junction)
basecollector junction and be swept into the collector;
perhaps one-hundredth of the electrons will recombine
in the base, which is the dominant mechanism in the base
current. By controlling the number of electrons that can
leave the base, the number of electrons entering the collector can be controlled.[37] Collector current is approximately (common-emitter current gain) times the base
current. It is typically greater than 100 for small-signal
transistors but can be smaller in transistors designed for
high-power applications.
4.5. TYPES
29
Unlike the eld-eect transistor (see below), the BJT is a

lowinput-impedance device. Also, as the baseemitter
voltage (Vbe) is increased the baseemitter current and
hence the collectoremitter current (Ice) increase exponentially according to the Shockley diode model and the
Ebers-Moll model. Because of this exponential relationship, the BJT has a higher transconductance than the FET.
Metalsemiconductor FETs (MESFETs) are JFETs in

which the reverse biased pn junction is replaced by a
metalsemiconductor junction. These, and the HEMTs
(high-electron-mobility transistors, or HFETs), in which
a two-dimensional electron gas with very high carrier mobility is used for charge transport, are especially suitable
for use at very high frequencies (microwave frequencies;
Bipolar transistors can be made to conduct by exposure several GHz).
to light, because absorption of photons in the base region FETs are further divided into depletion-mode and
generates a photocurrent that acts as a base current; the enhancement-mode types, depending on whether the
collector current is approximately times the photocur- channel is turned on or o with zero gate-to-source voltrent. Devices designed for this purpose have a transparent age. For enhancement mode, the channel is o at zero
window in the package and are called phototransistors.
bias, and a gate potential can enhance the conduction.
For the depletion mode, the channel is on at zero bias, and
a gate potential (of the opposite polarity) can deplete
the channel, reducing conduction. For either mode, a
4.5.2 Field-eect transistor (FET)
more positive gate voltage corresponds to a higher current
for n-channel devices and a lower current for p-channel
Main articles: Field-eect transistor, MOSFET and
devices. Nearly all JFETs are depletion-mode because
JFET
the diode junctions would forward bias and conduct if
they were enhancement-mode devices; most IGFETs are
The eld-eect transistor, sometimes called a unipolar enhancement-mode types.
transistor, uses either electrons (in n-channel FET) or
holes (in p-channel FET) for conduction. The four terminals of the FET are named source, gate, drain, and body 4.5.3 Usage of bipolar and eld-eect
(substrate). On most FETs, the body is connected to the
transistors
source inside the package, and this will be assumed for
the following description.
The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) was the most comIn a FET, the drain-to-source current ows via a conduct- monly used transistor in the 1960s and 70s. Even after
ing channel that connects the source region to the drain re- MOSFETs became widely available, the BJT remained
gion. The conductivity is varied by the electric eld that the transistor of choice for many analog circuits such as
is produced when a voltage is applied between the gate ampliers because of their greater linearity and ease of
and source terminals; hence the current owing between manufacture. In integrated circuits, the desirable propthe drain and source is controlled by the voltage applied erties of MOSFETs allowed them to capture nearly all
between the gate and source. As the gatesource volt- market share for digital circuits. Discrete MOSFETs can
age (Vgs) is increased, the drainsource current (Ids) in- be applied in transistor applications, including analog circreases exponentially for Vgs below threshold, and then at cuits, voltage regulators, ampliers, power transmitters
a roughly quadratic rate ( Ids (Vgs VT )2 ) (where VT and motor drivers.
is the threshold voltage at which drain current begins)[38]
in the "space-charge-limited" region above threshold. A
quadratic behavior is not observed in modern devices, for 4.5.4 Other transistor types
example, at the 65 nm technology node.[39]
For early bipolar transistors, see Bipolar junction tranFor low noise at narrow bandwidth the higher input resis- sistor#Bipolar transistors.
tance of the FET is advantageous.
FETs are divided into two families: junction FET (JFET)
and insulated gate FET (IGFET). The IGFET is more
commonly known as a metaloxidesemiconductor FET
(MOSFET), reecting its original construction from layers of metal (the gate), oxide (the insulation), and semiconductor. Unlike IGFETs, the JFET gate forms a pn
diode with the channel which lies between the source and
drain. Functionally, this makes the n-channel JFET the
solid-state equivalent of the vacuum tube triode which,
similarly, forms a diode between its grid and cathode.
Also, both devices operate in the depletion mode, they
both have a high input impedance, and they both conduct
current under the control of an input voltage.
Bipolar junction transistor

Heterojunction bipolar transistor, up to several hundred GHz, common in modern ultrafast and RF circuits
Schottky transistor
Avalanche transistor
Darlington transistors are two BJTs connected
together to provide a high current gain equal
to the product of the current gains of the two
transistors.
30
Inverted-T eld-eect transistor (ITFET)
FinFET, source/drain region shapes ns on the
silicon surface.
FREDFET, fast-reverse epitaxial diode eldeect transistor
Thin-lm transistor, in LCDs.
Organic eld-eect transistor (OFET), in
which the semiconductor is an organic compound
Ballistic transistor
Transistor symbol drawn on Portuguese pavement in the

University of Aveiro.
Insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) use

a medium-power IGFET, similarly connected
to a power BJT, to give a high input
impedance. Power diodes are often connected
between certain terminals depending on specic use. IGBTs are particularly suitable for
heavy-duty industrial applications. The Asea
Brown Boveri (ABB) 5SNA2400E170100 illustrates just how far power semiconductor technology has advanced.[40] Intended for
three-phase power supplies, this device houses
three npn IGBTs in a case measuring 38 by
140 by 190 mm and weighing 1.5 kg. Each
IGBT is rated at 1,700 volts and can handle
2,400 amperes.
Photo transistor
Multiple-emitter transistor, used in transistor
transistor logic
Multiple-base transistor, used to amplify verylow-level signals in noisy environments such as
the pickup of a record player or radio front
ends. Eectively, it is a very large number
of transistors in parallel where, at the output,
the signal is added constructively, but random
noise is added only stochastically.[41]
Field-eect transistor
Carbon nanotube eld-eect transistor (CNFET), where the channel material is replaced
by a carbon nanotube.
JFET, where the gate is insulated by a reversebiased pn junction
MESFET, similar to JFET with a Schottky
junction instead of a pn junction
High-electron-mobility
(HEMT, HFET, MODFET)
transistor
MOSFET, where the gate is insulated by a

shallow layer of insulator
Floating-gate transistor, for non-volatile storage.

FETs used to sense environment
Ion-sensitive eld eect transistor (IFSET), to measure ion concentrations in
solution.
EOSFET,
electrolyte-oxidesemiconductor eld-eect transistor
(Neurochip)
DNAFET, deoxyribonucleic acid eldeect transistor
Tunnel eld-eect transistor. TFETs switch by
modulating quantum tunnelling through a barrier.
Diusion transistor, formed by diusing dopants
into semiconductor substrate; can be both BJT and
FET
Unijunction transistors can be used as simple pulse
generators. They comprise a main body of either Ptype or N-type semiconductor with ohmic contacts
at each end (terminals Base1 and Base2). A junction
with the opposite semiconductor type is formed at
a point along the length of the body for the third
terminal (Emitter).
Single-electron transistors (SET) consist of a gate island between two tunneling junctions. The tunneling current is controlled by a voltage applied to the
gate through a capacitor.[42]
Nanouidic transistor, controls the movement
of ions through sub-microscopic, water-lled
channels.[43]
Multigate devices
Tetrode transistor
Pentode transistor
Trigate transistors (Prototype by Intel)
Dual-gate FETs have a single channel with
two gates in cascode; a conguration optimized for high-frequency ampliers, mixers,
and oscillators.
4.6. PART NUMBERING STANDARDS / SPECIFICATIONS
31
Junctionless nanowire transistor (JNT), uses a sim- 4.6.3 Joint Electron Devices Engineering
ple nanowire of silicon surrounded by an electrically
Council (JEDEC)
isolated wedding ring that acts to gate the ow of
electrons through the wire.
The JEDEC EIA370 transistor device numbers usually
start with 2N, indicating a three-terminal device (dual Vacuum-channel transistor: In 2012, NASA and the gate eld-eect transistors are four-terminal devices, so
National Nanofab Center in South Korea were re- begin with 3N), then a 2, 3 or 4-digit sequential numported to have built a prototype vacuum-channel ber with no signicance as to device properties (although
transistor in only 150 nanometers in size, can be early devices with low numbers tend to be germanium).
manufactured cheaply using standard silicon semi- For example 2N3055 is a silicon npn power transistor,
conductor processing, can operate at high speeds 2N1301 is a pnp germanium switching transistor. A
even in hostile environments, and could consume letter sux (such as A) is sometimes used to indicate a
newer variant, but rarely gain groupings.
just as much power as a standard transistor.[44]
Organic electrochemical transistor
4.6.4 Proprietary
Manufacturers of devices may have their own proprietary

numbering system, for example CK722. Since devices
4.6 Part numbering standards / are second-sourced, a manufacturers prex (like MPF
in MPF102, which originally would denote a Motorola
specications
FET) now is an unreliable indicator of who made the
device. Some proprietary naming schemes adopt parts
The types of some transistors can be parsed from the part
of other naming schemes, for example a PN2222A is a
number. There are three major semiconductor naming
(possibly Fairchild Semiconductor) 2N2222A in a plasstandards; in each the alphanumeric prex provides clues
tic case (but a PN108 is a plastic version of a BC108, not
to type of the device.
a 2N108, while the PN100 is unrelated to other xx100
devices).
4.6.1
Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS)
The JIS-C-7012 specication for transistor part numbers

starts with 2S,[45] e.g. 2SD965, but sometimes the 2S
prex is not marked on the package a 2SD965 might
only be marked D965"; a 2SC1815 might be listed by
a supplier as simply C1815. This series sometimes has
suxes (such as R, O, BL... standing for Red,
Orange, Blue etc.) to denote variants, such as tighter
hFE (gain) groupings.
Military part numbers sometimes are assigned their own

codes, such as the British Military CV Naming System.
Manufacturers buying large numbers of similar parts may
have them supplied with house numbers, identifying
a particular purchasing specication and not necessarily a device with a standardized registered number. For
example, an HP part 1854,0053 is a (JEDEC) 2N2218
transistor[48][49] which is also assigned the CV number:
CV7763[50]
4.6.5 Naming problems

4.6.2
European Electronic Component With so many independent naming schemes, and the abManufacturers Association (EECA) breviation of part numbers when printed on the devices,
ambiguity sometimes occurs. For example two dierent

The Pro Electron standard, the European Electronic devices may be marked J176 (one the J176 low-power
Component Manufacturers Association part numbering Junction FET, the other the higher-powered MOSFET
scheme, begins with two letters: the rst gives the semi- 2SJ176).
conductor type (A for germanium, B for silicon, and C As older through-hole transistors are given surfacefor materials like GaAs); the second letter denotes the mount packaged counterparts, they tend to be assigned
intended use (A for diode, C for general-purpose tran- many dierent part numbers because manufacturers have
sistor, etc.). A 3-digit sequence number (or one letter their own systems to cope with the variety in pinout arthen 2 digits, for industrial types) follows. With early de- rangements and options for dual or matched npn+pn
vices this indicated the case type. Suxes may be used, p devices in one pack. So even when the original device
with a letter (e.g. C often means high hFE, such as in: (such as a 2N3904) may have been assigned by a stanBC549C[46] ) or other codes may follow to show gain (e.g. dards authority, and well known by engineers over the
BC327-25) or voltage rating (e.g. BUK854-800A[47] ). years, the new versions are far from standardized in their
The more common prexes are:
naming.
32
4.7 Construction
4.7.1
Semiconductor material
The rst BJTs were made from germanium (Ge). Silicon

(Si) types currently predominate but certain advanced
microwave and high-performance versions now employ
the compound semiconductor material gallium arsenide
(GaAs) and the semiconductor alloy silicon germanium
(SiGe). Single element semiconductor material (Ge and
Si) is described as elemental.
Rough parameters for the most common semiconductor
materials used to make transistors are given in the table to
the right; these parameters will vary with increase in temperature, electric eld, impurity level, strain, and sundry
other factors.
The junction forward voltage is the voltage applied to the
emitterbase junction of a BJT in order to make the base
conduct a specied current. The current increases exponentially as the junction forward voltage is increased.
The values given in the table are typical for a current of
1 mA (the same values apply to semiconductor diodes).
The lower the junction forward voltage the better, as this
means that less power is required to drive the transistor. The junction forward voltage for a given current decreases with increase in temperature. For a typical silicon
junction the change is 2.1 mV/C.[51] In some circuits
special compensating elements (sensistors) must be used
to compensate for such changes.
is used in high-frequency applications. A relatively recent FET development, the high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT), has a heterostructure (junction between
dierent semiconductor materials) of aluminium gallium arsenide (AlGaAs)-gallium arsenide (GaAs) which
has twice the electron mobility of a GaAs-metal barrier
junction. Because of their high speed and low noise,
HEMTs are used in satellite receivers working at frequencies around 12 GHz. HEMTs based on gallium nitride
and aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN/GaN HEMTs)
provide a still higher electron mobility and are being developed for various applications.
Max. junction temperature values represent a cross
section taken from various manufacturers data sheets.
This temperature should not be exceeded or the transistor
may be damaged.
AlSi junction refers to the high-speed (aluminum
silicon) metalsemiconductor barrier diode, commonly
known as a Schottky diode. This is included in the table because some silicon power IGFETs have a parasitic
reverse Schottky diode formed between the source and
drain as part of the fabrication process. This diode can
be a nuisance, but sometimes it is used in the circuit.
4.7.2 Packaging
See also: Semiconductor package and Chip carrier
Discrete transistors are individually packaged transis-
The density of mobile carriers in the channel of a MOSFET is a function of the electric eld forming the channel and of various other phenomena such as the impurity
level in the channel. Some impurities, called dopants, are
introduced deliberately in making a MOSFET, to control
the MOSFET electrical behavior.
The electron mobility and hole mobility columns show the
average speed that electrons and holes diuse through the
semiconductor material with an electric eld of 1 volt per
meter applied across the material. In general, the higher
the electron mobility the faster the transistor can operate. Assorted discrete transistors
The table indicates that Ge is a better material than Si in
this respect. However, Ge has four major shortcomings tors. Transistors come in many dierent semiconductor
compared to silicon and gallium arsenide:
packages (see image). The two main categories are
through-hole (or leaded), and surface-mount, also known
as surface-mount device (SMD). The ball grid array
Its maximum temperature is limited;
(BGA) is the latest surface-mount package (currently only
it has relatively high leakage current;
for large integrated circuits). It has solder balls on the
underside in place of leads. Because they are smaller and
it cannot withstand high voltages;
have shorter interconnections, SMDs have better high it is less suitable for fabricating integrated circuits. frequency characteristics but lower power rating.
Because the electron mobility is higher than the hole mobility for all semiconductor materials, a given bipolar n
pn transistor tends to be swifter than an equivalent p
np transistor. GaAs has the highest electron mobility of
the three semiconductors. It is for this reason that GaAs
Transistor packages are made of glass, metal, ceramic, or

plastic. The package often dictates the power rating and
frequency characteristics. Power transistors have larger
packages that can be clamped to heat sinks for enhanced
cooling. Additionally, most power transistors have the
collector or drain physically connected to the metal en-
4.10. REFERENCES
33
closure. At the other extreme, some surface-mount microwave transistors are as small as grains of sand.
LM394: supermatch pair, with two npn BJTs

on a single substrate.
Often a given transistor type is available in several packages. Transistor packages are mainly standardized, but
the assignment of a transistors functions to the terminals
is not: other transistor types can assign other functions
to the packages terminals. Even for the same transistor type the terminal assignment can vary (normally indicated by a sux letter to the part number, q.e. BC212L
and BC212K).
2N2219A/2N2905A: BJT, general purpose,

medium power, complementary pair. With metal
cases they are rated at about one watt.
Nowadays most transistors come in a wide range of SMT

packages, in comparison the list of available through-hole
packages is relatively small, here is a short list of the
most common through-hole transistors packages in alphabetical order: ATV, E-line, MRT, HRT, SC-43, SC-72,
TO-3, TO-18, TO-39, TO-92, TO-126, TO220, TO247,
TO251, TO262, ZTX851
Flexible transistors
Researchers have made several kinds of exible transistors, including organic eld-eect transistors.[52][53][54]
Flexible transistors are useful in some kinds of exible
displays and other exible electronics.
4.8 See also

Band gap
Digital electronics
Moores law
Semiconductor device modeling
Transistor count
Transistor model
Transresistance
Very-large-scale integration
4.9 Directory of external websites

with datasheets
2N3904/2N3906,
BC182/BC212
and
BC546/BC556: Ubiquitous, BJT, general-purpose,
low-power, complementary pairs. They have plastic
cases and cost roughly ten cents U.S. in small
quantities, making them popular with hobbyists.
2N3055/MJ2955: For years, the npn 2N3055 has

been the standard power transistor. Its complement, the pnp MJ2955 arrived later. These 1
MHz, 15 A, 60 V, 115 W BJTs are used in audiopower ampliers, power supplies, and control.
2SC3281/2SA1302: Made by Toshiba, these BJTs
have low-distortion characteristics and are used in
high-power audio ampliers. They have been widely
counterfeited .
BU508: npn, 1500 V power BJT. Designed for
television horizontal deection, its high voltage capability also makes it suitable for use in ignition systems.
MJ11012/MJ11015: 30 A, 120 V, 200 W, high
power Darlington complementary pair BJTs. Used
in audio ampliers, control, and power switching.
2N5457/2N5460: JFET (depletion mode), general
purpose, low power, complementary pair.
BSP296/BSP171: IGFET (enhancement mode),
medium power, near complementary pair. Used for
logic level conversion and driving power transistors
in ampliers.
IRF3710/IRF5210: IGFET (enhancement mode),
40 A, 100 V, 200 W, near complementary pair.
For high-power ampliers and power switches, especially in automobiles.
4.10 References
[1] "Milestones:Invention of the First Transistor at Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., 1947. IEEE Global History
Network. IEEE. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
[2] The Nobel Prize in Physics 1956. Nobelprize.org. Nobel
Media AB. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
[3] Vardalas, John, Twists and Turns in the Development of
the Transistor IEEE-USA Todays Engineer, May 2003.
[4] Lilienfeld, Julius Edgar, Method and apparatus for controlling electric current U.S. Patent 1,745,175 January
28, 1930 (led in Canada 1925-10-22, in US 1926-1008).
AF107: Germanium, 0.5 watt, 250 MHz pnp

BJT.
[5] Method And Apparatus For Controlling Electric Currents. United States Patent and Trademark Oce.
BFP183: Low-power, 8 GHz microwave npn

BJT.
[6] Amplier For Electric Currents. United States Patent

and Trademark Oce.
34
[7] Device For Controlling Electric Current. United States

Patent and Trademark Oce.
[8] Twists and Turns in the Development of the Transistor.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
[9] Heil, Oskar, Improvements in or relating to electrical
ampliers and other control arrangements and devices,
Patent No. GB439457, European Patent Oce, led in
Great Britain 1934-03-02, published December 6, 1935
(originally led in Germany 1934-03-02).
[10] November 17 December 23, 1947: Invention of the
First Transistor. American Physical Society.
[11] Bell Laboratories (1983). S. Millman, ed. A History of
Engineering and Science in the Bell System, Physical Science (1925-1980). AT&T Bell Laboratories. p. 102.
[26] W. Heywang, K. H. Zaininger, Silicon: The Semiconductor Material, Silicon: evolution and future of a
technology (Editors: P. Siert, E. F. Krimmel), p.36,
Springer, 2004 ISBN 3-540-40546-1.
[27] Robert W. Price (2004). Roadmap to Entrepreneurial Success. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. p. 42. ISBN
978-0-8144-7190-6.
[28] "Milestones:Invention of the First Transistor at Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., 1947. IEEE Global History
Network. IEEE. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
[29] FETs/MOSFETs: Smaller apps push up surface-mount
supply
[30] "ATI and Nvidia face o. October 7, 2009. Retrieved on
February 2, 2011.
[12] David Bodanis (2005). Electric Universe. Crown Publishers, New York. ISBN 0-7394-5670-9.
[31] Jim Turley. The Two Percent Solution 2002.
[13] transistor. American Heritage Dictionary (3rd ed.).

Boston: Houghton Miin. 1992.
[32] Kaplan, Daniel (2003). Hands-On Electronics. New York:

Cambridge University Press. pp. 4754, 6061. ISBN
978-0-511-07668-8.
[14] The Nobel Prize in Physics 1956.

[15] 1948 - The European Transistor Invention. Computer
History Museum.
[16] W.E. Bradley (December 1953). The Surface-Barrier
Transistor: Part I-Principles of the Surface-Barrier Transistor. Proceedings of the IRE 41 (12): 17021706.
doi:10.1109/JRPROC.1953.274351.
[17] Wall Street Journal, December 4, 1953, page 4, Article
Philco Claims Its Transistor Outperforms Others Now In
Use
[18] Electronics magazine, January 1954, Article Electroplated Transistors Announced
[19] Wall Street Journal, Chrysler Promises Car Radio With
Transistors Instead of Tubes in '56, April 28, 1955, page
1
[33] apart from a small value due to leakage currents

[34] John Keane and Chris H. Kim, Transistor Aging, IEEE
Spectrum (web feature), April 25, 2011.
[35] van der Veen, M. (2005). Universal system and output
transformer for valve ampliers (PDF). 118th AES Convention, Barcelona, Spain.
[36] Transistor Example. 071003 bcae1.com
[37] Streetman, Ben (1992). Solid State Electronic Devices.
Englewood Clis, NJ: Prentice-Hall. pp. 301305. ISBN
0-13-822023-9.
[38] Horowitz, Paul; Wineld Hill (1989). The Art of Electronics (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 115. ISBN
0-521-37095-7.
[20] Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1955, page A20, Article:

Chrysler Announces New Transistor Radio
[39] W. M. C. Sansen (2006). Analog design essentials. New

York ; Berlin: Springer. p. 0152, p. 28. ISBN 0-38725746-2.
[21] Philco TechRep Division Bulletin, MayJune 1955, Volume 5 Number 3, page 28
[40] IGBT Module 5SNA 2400E170100 (PDF). Retrieved

June 30, 2012.
[22] Saul Rosen (Jun 1991). PHILCO: Some Recollections

of the PHILCO TRANSAC S-2000 (Computer Science
Technical Reports / Purdue e-Pubs) (CSD-TR-91-051).
Purdue University. Here: page 2
[41] Zhong Yuan Chang, Willy M. C. Sansen, Low-Noise

Wide-Band Ampliers in Bipolar and CMOS Technologies,
page 31, Springer, 1991 ISBN 0792390962.
[23] IEEE Spectrum, The Lost History of the Transistor, Author: Michael Riordan, May 2004, pp 48-49
|
url=http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/
the-lost-history-of-the-transistor
[24] J. Chelikowski, Introduction: Silicon in all its Forms,
Silicon: evolution and future of a technology (Editors: P.
Siert, E. F. Krimmel), p.1, Springer, 2004 ISBN 3-54040546-1.
[25] Grant McFarland, Microprocessor design: a practical
guide from design planning to manufacturing, p.10,
McGraw-Hill Professional, 2006 ISBN 0-07-145951-0.
[42] Single Electron Transistors. Snow.stanford.edu. Retrieved June 30, 2012.

[43] Sanders, Robert (June 28, 2005). Nanouidic transistor,
the basis of future chemical processors. Berkeley.edu.
Retrieved June 30, 2012.
[44] The return of the vacuum tube?
[45] Clive TEC Transistors Japanese Industrial Standards.
Clivetec.0catch.com. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
[46] Datasheet for BC549, with A,B and C gain groupings
(PDF). Retrieved June 30, 2012.
[47] Datasheet for BUK854-800A (800volt IGBT)" (PDF).

Retrieved June 30, 2012.
35
4.12 External links
[48] Richard Freemans HP Part numbers Crossreference.

Hpmuseum.org. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
The CK722 Museum. Website devoted to the classic

hobbyist germanium transistor
[49] TransistorDiode Cross Reference H.P. Part Numbers

to JEDEC (pdf)
The Transistor Educational content from Nobelprize.org
[50] CV Device Cross-reference by Andy Lake. Qsl.net. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
BBC: Building the digital age photo history of transistors
[51] A.S. Sedra and K.C. Smith (2004). Microelectronic circuits (Fifth ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp.
397 and Figure 5.17. ISBN 0-19-514251-9.
[52] Jhonathan P. Rojas, Galo A. Torres Sevilla, and Muhammad M. Hussain. Can We Build a Truly High Performance Computer Which is Flexible and Transparent?".
[53] Kan Zhang, Jung-Hun Seo1, Weidong Zhou and Zhenqiang Ma. Fast exible electronics using transferrable
silicon nanomembranes. 2012.
[54] Lisa Zyga. Carbon nanotube transistors could lead to inexpensive, exible electronics. 2011.
4.11 Further reading
The Bell Systems Memorial on Transistors

IEEE Global History Network, The Transistor and
Portable Electronics. All about the history of transistors and integrated circuits.
Transistorized. Historical and technical information
from the Public Broadcasting Service
This Month in Physics History: November 17 to December 23, 1947: Invention of the First Transistor.
From the American Physical Society
50 Years of the Transistor. From Science Friday, December 12, 1997
Amos S W & James M R (1999). Principles of Tran- Pinouts

sistor Circuits. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 0 Common transistor pinouts
7506-4427-3.
Bacon, W. Stevenson (1968). The Transistors
20th Anniversary: How Germanium And A Bit of Datasheets
Wire Changed The World. Bonnier Corp.: Popu Charts showing many characteristics and links to
lar Science, retrieved from Google Books 2009-03most datasheets for 2N, 2SA, 2SB. 2SC, 2SD, 2SH22 (Bonnier Corporation) 192 (6): 8084. ISSN
K, and other numbers.
0161-7370.
Horowitz, Paul & Hill, Wineld (1989). The Art of
Electronics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521-37095-7.
Riordan, Michael & Hoddeson, Lillian (1998).
Crystal Fire. W.W Norton & Company Limited.
ISBN 0-393-31851-6. The invention of the transistor & the birth of the information age
Warnes, Lionel (1998). Analogue and Digital Electronics. Macmillan Press Ltd. ISBN 0-333-658205.
Herbert F. Matar, An Inventor of the Transistor
has his moment. The New York Times. February
24, 2003.
Michael Riordan (2005). How Europe Missed
the Transistor. IEEE Spectrum 42 (11): 5257.
doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2005.1526906.
C. D. Renmore (1980). Silicon Chips and You.
ISBN 0-8253-0022-3.
Wiley-IEEE Press. Complete Guide to Semiconductor Devices, 2nd Edition.
Discrete Databook (Historical 1978), National

Semiconductor (now Texas Instruments)
Discrete Databook (Historical 1982), SGS (now
STMicroelectronics)
Small-Signal Transistor
1984), Motorola
Databook
(Historical
Discrete Databook (Historical 1985), Fairchild
Chapter 5
Capacitor
This article is about the electronic component. For the
physical phenomenon, see capacitance. For an overview
of various kinds of capacitors, see types of capacitor.
Capacitive redirects here. For the term used when referring to touchscreens, see capacitive sensing.
A capacitor (originally known as a condenser) is a
4 electrolytic capacitors of dierent voltages and capacitance
Miniature low-voltage capacitors (next to a cm ruler)
Solid electrolyte, resin-dipped 10 F 35 V tantalum capacitors.

The + sign indicates the positive lead.
or sintered beads of metal or conductive electrolyte, etc.

The nonconducting dielectric acts to increase the capacitors charge capacity. A dielectric can be glass, ceramic,
plastic lm, air, vacuum, paper, mica, oxide layer etc.
Capacitors are widely used as parts of electrical circuits
A typical electrolytic capacitor
in many common electrical devices. Unlike a resistor, an
passive two-terminal electrical component used to store ideal capacitor does not dissipate energy. Instead, a caenergy electrostatically in an electric eld. The forms of pacitor stores energy in the form of an electrostatic eld
practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least between its plates.
two electrical conductors (plates) separated by a dielectric When there is a potential dierence across the conductors
(i.e. insulator). The conductors can be thin lms, foils (e.g., when a capacitor is attached across a battery), an
36
37
electric eld develops across the dielectric, causing positive charge +Q to collect on one plate and negative charge
Q to collect on the other plate. If a battery has been
attached to a capacitor for a sucient amount of time,
no current can ow through the capacitor. However, if
a time-varying voltage is applied across the leads of the
capacitor, a displacement current can ow.
An ideal capacitor is characterized by a single constant
value for its capacitance. Capacitance is expressed as the
ratio of the electric charge Q on each conductor to the
potential dierence V between them. The SI unit of capacitance is the farad (F), which is equal to one coulomb
per volt (1 C/V). Typical capacitance values range from
about 1 pF (1012 F) to about 1 mF (103 F).
The capacitance is greater when there is a narrower separation between conductors and when the conductors have
a larger surface area. In practice, the dielectric between
the plates passes a small amount of leakage current and
also has an electric eld strength limit, known as the
breakdown voltage. The conductors and leads introduce
an undesired inductance and resistance.
Capacitors are widely used in electronic circuits for
blocking direct current while allowing alternating current
to pass. In analog lter networks, they smooth the output Battery of four Leyden jars in Museum Boerhaave, Leiden, the
of power supplies. In resonant circuits they tune radios Netherlands
to particular frequencies. In electric power transmission
systems, they stabilize voltage and power ow.[1]
5.1 History
In October 1745, Ewald Georg von Kleist of Pomerania,
Germany, found that charge could be stored by connecting a high-voltage electrostatic generator by a wire to a
volume of water in a hand-held glass jar.[2] Von Kleists
hand and the water acted as conductors, and the jar as a
dielectric (although details of the mechanism were incorrectly identied at the time). Von Kleist found that touching the wire resulted in a powerful spark, much more
painful than that obtained from an electrostatic machine.
The following year, the Dutch physicist Pieter van Musschenbroek invented a similar capacitor, which was named
the Leyden jar, after the University of Leiden where he
worked.[3] He also was impressed by the power of the
shock he received, writing, I would not take a second
shock for the kingdom of France.[4]
mouth to prevent arcing between the foils. The earliest

unit of capacitance was the jar, equivalent to about 1.11
nanofarads.[8]
Leyden jars or more powerful devices employing at glass
plates alternating with foil conductors were used exclusively up until about 1900, when the invention of wireless
(radio) created a demand for standard capacitors, and
the steady move to higher frequencies required capacitors
with lower inductance. More compact construction methods began to be used, such as a exible dielectric sheet
(like oiled paper) sandwiched between sheets of metal
foil, rolled or folded into a small package.
Early capacitors were also known as condensers, a term
that is still occasionally used today, particularly in high
power applications, like automotive systems. The term
was rst used for this purpose by Alessandro Volta in
1782, with reference to the devices ability to store a
higher density of electric charge than a normal isolated
conductor.[9]
Daniel Gralath was the rst to combine several jars in

parallel into a battery to increase the charge storage capacity. Benjamin Franklin investigated the Leyden jar
and came to the conclusion that the charge was stored on
the glass, not in the water as others had assumed. He also
adopted the term battery,[5][6] (denoting the increasing 5.2 Theory of operation
of power with a row of similar units as in a battery of cannon), subsequently applied to clusters of electrochemical
cells.[7] Leyden jars were later made by coating the inside Main article: Capacitance
and outside of jars with metal foil, leaving a space at the
38
CHAPTER 5. CAPACITOR
Charge
+Q
Electric
field E
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-+
-Q
dielectric
Plate
area A
Plate separation d
Charge separation in a parallel-plate capacitor causes an internal
electric eld. A dielectric (orange) reduces the eld and increases
the capacitance.
An ideal capacitor is wholly characterized by a constant

capacitance C, dened as the ratio of charge Q on each
conductor to the voltage V between them:[10]
C=
Q
V
Because the conductors (or plates) are close together, the

opposite charges on the conductors attract one another
due to their electric elds, allowing the capacitor to store
more charge for a given voltage than if the conductors
were separated, giving the capacitor a large capacitance.
Sometimes charge build-up aects the capacitor mechanically, causing its capacitance to vary. In this case, capacitance is dened in terms of incremental changes:
C=
dQ
dV
5.2.2 Hydraulic analogy
In the hydraulic analogy, a capacitor is analogous to a rubber membrane sealed inside a pipe. This animation illustrates
a membrane being repeatedly stretched and un-stretched by the
ow of water, which is analogous to a capacitor being repeatedly
charged and discharged by the ow of charge.
A simple demonstration of a parallel-plate capacitor
5.2.1
Overview
A capacitor consists of two conductors separated by a

non-conductive region.[10] The non-conductive region is
called the dielectric. In simpler terms, the dielectric is
just an electrical insulator. Examples of dielectric media
are glass, air, paper, vacuum, and even a semiconductor
depletion region chemically identical to the conductors.
A capacitor is assumed to be self-contained and isolated,
with no net electric charge and no inuence from any external electric eld. The conductors thus hold equal and
opposite charges on their facing surfaces,[11] and the dielectric develops an electric eld. In SI units, a capacitance of one farad means that one coulomb of charge on
each conductor causes a voltage of one volt across the
device.[12]
In the hydraulic analogy, charge carriers owing through

a wire are analogous to water owing through a pipe. A
capacitor is like a rubber membrane sealed inside a pipe.
Water molecules cannot pass through the membrane, but
some water can move by stretching the membrane. The
analogy claries a few aspects of capacitors:
The current alters the charge on a capacitor, just as
the ow of water changes the position of the membrane. More specically, the eect of an electric
current is to increase the charge of one plate of the
capacitor, and decrease the charge of the other plate
by an equal amount. This is just as when water
ow moves the rubber membrane, it increases the
amount of water on one side of the membrane, and
decreases the amount of water on the other side.
The more a capacitor is charged, the larger its voltage
drop; i.e., the more it pushes back against the
charging current. This is analogous to the fact
that the more a membrane is stretched, the more it
pushes back on the water.
Charge can ow through a capacitor even though
no individual electron can get from one side to the
39
other. This is analogous to the fact that water can
ow through the pipe even though no water molecule

Q(t)
1 t
=
I( )d + V (t0 )
can pass through the rubber membrane. Of course, V (t) =
C
C t0
the ow cannot continue in the same direction forever; the capacitor will experience dielectric break- Taking the derivative of this and multiplying by C yields
down, and analogously the membrane will eventu- the derivative form:[15]
ally break.
The capacitance describes how much charge can
be stored on one plate of a capacitor for a given
push (voltage drop). A very stretchy, exible
membrane corresponds to a higher capacitance than
a sti membrane.
dQ(t)
dV (t)
=C
dt
dt
The dual of the capacitor is the inductor, which stores energy in a magnetic eld rather than an electric eld. Its
current-voltage relation is obtained by exchanging current
A charged-up capacitor is storing potential energy, and voltage in the capacitor equations and replacing C
with the inductance L.
analogously to a stretched membrane.
5.2.3
Energy of electric eld
I(t) =
5.2.5 DC circuits
Work must be done by an external inuence to move See also: RC circuit

charge between the conductors in a capacitor. When the A series circuit containing only a resistor, a capacitor, a
external inuence is removed, the charge separation persists in the electric eld and energy is stored to be released
when the charge is allowed to return to its equilibrium
position. The work done in establishing the electric eld,
and hence the amount of energy stored, is[13]
W =
V (q)dq =
0
q
1 Q2
1
1
dq =
= CV 2 = V Q
C
2 C
2
2
Here Q is the charge stored in the capacitor, V is the voltage across the capacitor, and C is the capacitance.
V0
VC
A simple resistor-capacitor circuit demonstrates charging of a ca-
In the case of a uctuating voltage V(t), the stored energy pacitor.

also uctuates and hence power must ow into or out of
the capacitor. This power can be found by taking the time switch and a constant DC source of voltage V 0 is known
as a charging circuit.[16] If the capacitor is initially underivative of the stored energy:
charged while the switch is open, and the switch is closed
at t0 , it follows from Kirchhos voltage law that
(
)
dW
d 1
dV
P =
=
CV 2 = CV (t)
dt
dt 2
dt
1 t
V0 = vresistor (t) + vcapacitor (t) = i(t)R +
i( )d
C t0
5.2.4
Currentvoltage relation
The current I(t) through any component in an electric circuit is dened as the rate of ow of a charge Q(t) passing
through it, but actual chargeselectronscannot pass
through the dielectric layer of a capacitor. Rather, one
electron accumulates on the negative plate for each one
that leaves the positive plate, resulting in an electron depletion and consequent positive charge on one electrode
that is equal and opposite to the accumulated negative
charge on the other. Thus the charge on the electrodes
is equal to the integral of the current as well as proportional to the voltage, as discussed above. As with any
antiderivative, a constant of integration is added to represent the initial voltage V(t 0 ). This is the integral form of
the capacitor equation:[14]
Taking the derivative and multiplying by C, gives a rstorder dierential equation:

di(t)
+ i(t) = 0
dt
At t = 0, the voltage across the capacitor is zero and the
voltage across the resistor is V0 . The initial current is then
I(0) =V 0 /R. With this assumption, solving the dierential
equation yields
RC
I(t) =
V0 t
e 0
R(
V (t) = V0 1 e 0
t
40
where 0 = RC is the time constant of the system. As the

capacitor reaches equilibrium with the source voltage, the
voltages across the resistor and the current through the entire circuit decay exponentially. The case of discharging a
charged capacitor likewise demonstrates exponential decay, but with the initial capacitor voltage replacing V 0
and the nal voltage being zero.
5.2.6
AC circuits
XC =
V0
I0
V0
CV0
1
C
XC approaches zero as approaches innity. If XC

approaches 0, the capacitor resembles a short wire that
strongly passes current at high frequencies. XC approaches innity as approaches zero. If XC approaches
innity, the capacitor resembles an open circuit that
poorly passes low frequencies.
The current of the capacitor may be expressed in the
form of cosines to better compare with the voltage of the
source:
See also: reactance (electronics) and electrical impedance

Deriving the device-specic impedances
I = I0 sin(t) = I0 cos(t + 90 )
Impedance, the vector sum of reactance and resistance,
describes the phase dierence and the ratio of amplitudes
between sinusoidally varying voltage and sinusoidally
varying current at a given frequency. Fourier analysis
allows any signal to be constructed from a spectrum of
frequencies, whence the circuits reaction to the various
frequencies may be found. The reactance and impedance
of a capacitor are respectively
1
1
=
C
2f C
j
j
1
=
=
Z=
jC
C
2f C
X=
In this situation, the current is out of phase with the voltage by +/2 radians or +90 degrees (i.e., the current will
lead the voltage by 90).
5.2.7 Laplace circuit analysis (s-domain)

When using the Laplace transform in circuit analysis, the
impedance of an ideal capacitor with no initial charge is
represented in the s domain by:
Z(s) =
1
sC
where j is the imaginary unit and is the angular fre- where

quency of the sinusoidal signal. The j phase indicates
that the AC voltage V = ZI lags the AC current by 90:
C is the capacitance, and
the positive current phase corresponds to increasing voltage as the capacitor charges; zero current corresponds to
s is the complex frequency.
instantaneous constant voltage, etc.
Impedance decreases with increasing capacitance and increasing frequency. This implies that a higher-frequency 5.2.8
signal or a larger capacitor results in a lower voltage amplitude per current amplitudean AC short circuit or
AC coupling. Conversely, for very low frequencies, the
reactance will be high, so that a capacitor is nearly an
open circuit in AC analysisthose frequencies have been
ltered out.
Capacitors are dierent from resistors and inductors in

that the impedance is inversely proportional to the dening characteristic; i.e., capacitance.
A capacitor connected to a sinusoidal voltage source will
cause a displacement current to ow through it. In the
case that the voltage source is V0 cos(t), the displacement current can be expressed as:
I=C
dV
= CV0 sin(t)
dt
Parallel-plate model
Conductive plates
d
Dielectric
Dielectric is placed between two conducting plates, each of area
A and with a separation of d
At sin(t) = 1, the capacitor has a maximum (or peak)

current whereby I0 = CV0 . The ratio of peak voltage to The simplest capacitor consists of two parallel conducpeak current is due to capacitive reactance (denoted XC). tive plates separated by a dielectric (such as air) with
41
permittivity . The model may also be used to make

qualitative predictions for other device geometries. The
plates are considered to extend uniformly over an area A
and a charge density = Q/A exists on their surface.
Assuming that the width of the plates is much greater than
their separation d, the electric eld near the centre of the
device will be uniform with the magnitude E = /. The
voltage is dened as the line integral of the electric eld
between the plates
E dz =
V =
0
d
Qd
dz =
=
C1 C2
Cn
Several capacitors in parallel
Solving this for C = Q/V reveals that capacitance inFor capacitors in parallel Capacitors in a parallel concreases with area of the plates, and decreases as separaguration each have the same applied voltage. Their
tion between plates increases.
capacitances add up. Charge is apportioned among
them by size. Using the schematic diagram to visualize parallel plates, it is apparent that each capacitor
A
C=
contributes to the total surface area.
d
The capacitance is therefore greatest in devices made
from materials with a high permittivity, large plate area,
and small distance between plates.
Ceq = C1 + C2 + + Cn
A parallel plate capacitor can only store a nite amount
of energy before dielectric breakdown occurs. The ca- For capacitors in series
pacitors dielectric material has a dielectric strength U
which sets the capacitors breakdown voltage at V = V
= U d. The maximum energy that the capacitor can store
is therefore
1
n
2
1
1 A
1
E = CV 2 =
(Ud d)2 = AdUd2
2
2 d
2
We see that the maximum energy is a function of di- Several capacitors in series
electric volume, permittivity, and dielectric strength per
distance. So increasing the plate area while decreasing
Connected in series, the schematic diagram rethe separation between the plates while maintaining the
veals that the separation distance, not the plate
same volume has no change on the amount of energy the
area, adds up. The capacitors each store instancapacitor can store. Care must be taken when increastaneous charge build-up equal to that of every
ing the plate separation so that the above assumption of
other capacitor in the series. The total voltage
the distance between plates being much smaller than the
dierence from end to end is apportioned to
area of the plates is still valid for these equations to be
each capacitor according to the inverse of its
accurate. In addition, these equations assume that the
capacitance. The entire series acts as a capacelectric eld is entirely concentrated in the dielectric beitor smaller than any of its components.
tween the plates. In reality there are fringing elds outside the dielectric, for example between the sides of the
capacitor plates, which will increase the eective capacitance of the capacitor. This could be seen as a form of
1
1
1
1
parasitic capacitance. For some simple capacitor geome=
+
+ +
Ceq
C1
C2
Cn
tries this additional capacitance term can be calculated
[17]
analytically. It becomes negligibly small when the raCapacitors are combined in series to achieve
tio of plate area to separation is large.
a higher working voltage, for example for
smoothing a high voltage power supply. The
voltage ratings, which are based on plate sep5.2.9 Networks
aration, add up, if capacitance and leakage
See also: Series and parallel circuits
currents for each capacitor are identical. In
such an application, on occasion, series strings
42
are connected in parallel, forming a matrix.
The goal is to maximize the energy storage of
the network without overloading any capacitor. For high-energy storage with capacitors in
series, some safety considerations must be applied to ensure one capacitor failing and leaking current will not apply too much voltage to
the other series capacitors.
Series connection is also sometimes used
to adapt polarized electrolytic capacitors for
bipolar AC use. See electrolytic capacitor#Designing for reverse bias.
Voltage distribution in parallel-to-series networks.

To model the distribution of voltages from a single
charged capacitor (A) connected in parallel to a
chain of capacitors in series (Bn ) :
(
)
1
(volts)Aeq = A 1
n+1
(
)
A
1
(volts)B1..n =
1
n
n+1
AB =0
Note: This is only correct if all capacitance
values are equal.
The power transferred in this arrangement is:
P =
1
1
Avolts (Afarads + Bfarads )

R n+1
5.3 Non-ideal behavior

Capacitors deviate from the ideal capacitor equation in a
number of ways. Some of these, such as leakage current
and parasitic eects are linear, or can be assumed to be
linear, and can be dealt with by adding virtual components to the equivalent circuit of the capacitor. The usual
methods of network analysis can then be applied. In other
cases, such as with breakdown voltage, the eect is nonlinear and normal (i.e., linear) network analysis cannot be
used, the eect must be dealt with separately. There is yet
another group, which may be linear but invalidate the assumption in the analysis that capacitance is a constant.
Such an example is temperature dependence. Finally,
combined parasitic eects such as inherent inductance,
resistance, or dielectric losses can exhibit non-uniform
behavior at variable frequencies of operation.
5.3.1 Breakdown voltage

Main article: Breakdown voltage
Above a particular electric eld, known as the dielectric
strength Eds, the dielectric in a capacitor becomes conductive. The voltage at which this occurs is called the
breakdown voltage of the device, and is given by the product of the dielectric strength and the separation between
the conductors,[18]
Vbd = Eds d
The maximum energy that can be stored safely in a capacitor is limited by the breakdown voltage. Due to the scaling of capacitance and breakdown voltage with dielectric
thickness, all capacitors made with a particular dielectric
have approximately equal maximum energy density, to
the extent that the dielectric dominates their volume.[19]
For air dielectric capacitors the breakdown eld strength
is of the order 2 to 5 MV/m; for mica the breakdown is
100 to 300 MV/m; for oil, 15 to 25 MV/m; it can be much
less when other materials are used for the dielectric.[20]
The dielectric is used in very thin layers and so absolute breakdown voltage of capacitors is limited. Typical
ratings for capacitors used for general electronics applications range from a few volts to 1 kV. As the voltage
increases, the dielectric must be thicker, making highvoltage capacitors larger per capacitance than those rated
for lower voltages. The breakdown voltage is critically
aected by factors such as the geometry of the capacitor conductive parts; sharp edges or points increase the
electric eld strength at that point and can lead to a local
breakdown. Once this starts to happen, the breakdown
quickly tracks through the dielectric until it reaches the
opposite plate, leaving carbon behind and causing a short
(or relatively low resistance) circuit. The results can be
explosive as the short in the capacitor draws current from
the surrounding circuitry and dissipates the energy.[21]
The usual breakdown route is that the eld strength becomes large enough to pull electrons in the dielectric from
their atoms thus causing conduction. Other scenarios are
possible, such as impurities in the dielectric, and, if the
dielectric is of a crystalline nature, imperfections in the
crystal structure can result in an avalanche breakdown as
seen in semi-conductor devices. Breakdown voltage is
also aected by pressure, humidity and temperature.[22]
5.3.2 Equivalent circuit

An ideal capacitor only stores and releases electrical energy, without dissipating any. In reality, all capacitors
have imperfections within the capacitors material that
create resistance. This is specied as the equivalent series resistance or ESR of a component. This adds a real
component to the impedance:
5.3. NON-IDEAL BEHAVIOR
43
Q=
XC
1
=
,
RC
CRC
where is angular frequency, C is the capacitance, XC

is the capacitive reactance, and RC is the series resistance
of the capacitor.
5.3.4 Ripple current
Two dierent circuit models of a real capacitor
RC = Z + RESR =
1
+ RESR
jC
As frequency approaches innity, the capacitive

impedance (or reactance) approaches zero and the ESR
becomes signicant. As the reactance becomes negligible, power dissipation approaches PRMS = VRMS
/RESR.
Similarly to ESR, the capacitors leads add equivalent series inductance or ESL to the component. This is usually
signicant only at relatively high frequencies. As inductive reactance is positive and increases with frequency,
above a certain frequency capacitance will be canceled
by inductance. High-frequency engineering involves accounting for the inductance of all connections and components.
Ripple current is the AC component of an applied source

(often a switched-mode power supply) whose frequency
may be constant or varying. Ripple current causes heat
to be generated within the capacitor due to the dielectric losses caused by the changing eld strength together
with the current ow across the slightly resistive supply
lines or the electrolyte in the capacitor. The equivalent
series resistance (ESR) is the amount of internal series
resistance one would add to a perfect capacitor to model
this. Some types of capacitors, primarily tantalum and
aluminum electrolytic capacitors, as well as some lm capacitors have a specied rating value for maximum ripple
current.
Tantalum electrolytic capacitors with solid manganese dioxide electrolyte are limited by ripple current and generally have the highest ESR ratings in
the capacitor family. Exceeding their ripple limits
can lead to shorts and burning parts.
Aluminum electrolytic capacitors, the most common type of electrolytic, suer a shortening of life
expectancy at higher ripple currents. If ripple current exceeds the rated value of the capacitor, it tends
to result in explosive failure.
Ceramic capacitors generally have no ripple current
limitation and have some of the lowest ESR ratings.
Film capacitors have very low ESR ratings but exIf the conductors are separated by a material with a small
ceeding rated ripple current may cause degradation
conductivity rather than a perfect dielectric, then a small
failures.
leakage current ows directly between them. The capacitor therefore has a nite parallel resistance,[12] and slowly
discharges over time (time may vary greatly depending on 5.3.5 Capacitance instability
the capacitor material and quality).
The capacitance of certain capacitors decreases as the
component ages. In ceramic capacitors, this is caused
by degradation of the dielectric. The type of dielectric,
5.3.3 Q factor
ambient operating and storage temperatures are the most
signicant aging factors, while the operating voltage has
The quality factor (or Q) of a capacitor is the ratio of a smaller eect. The aging process may be reversed by
its reactance to its resistance at a given frequency, and is heating the component above the Curie point. Aging is
a measure of its eciency. The higher the Q factor of fastest near the beginning of life of the component, and
the capacitor, the closer it approaches the behavior of an the device stabilizes over time.[23] Electrolytic capacitors
ideal, lossless, capacitor.
age as the electrolyte evaporates. In contrast with ceramic
The Q factor of a capacitor can be found through the fol- capacitors, this occurs towards the end of life of the component.
lowing formula:
44
Temperature dependence of capacitance is usually expressed in parts per million (ppm) per C. It can usually
be taken as a broadly linear function but can be noticeably
non-linear at the temperature extremes. The temperature
coecient can be either positive or negative, sometimes
even amongst dierent samples of the same type. In other
words, the spread in the range of temperature coecients
can encompass zero. See the data sheet in the leakage
current section above for an example.
Capacitors, especially ceramic capacitors, and older designs such as paper capacitors, can absorb sound waves
resulting in a microphonic eect. Vibration moves
the plates, causing the capacitance to vary, in turn inducing AC current. Some dielectrics also generate
piezoelectricity. The resulting interference is especially
problematic in audio applications, potentially causing
feedback or unintended recording. In the reverse microphonic eect, the varying electric eld between the capacitor plates exerts a physical force, moving them as a
speaker. This can generate audible sound, but drains energy and stresses the dielectric and the electrolyte, if any.
5.3.7 Dielectric absorption

Capacitors made with some types of dielectric material
show "dielectric absorption" or soakage. On discharging a capacitor and disconnecting it, after a short time it
may develop a voltage due to hysteresis in the dielectric.
This eect can be objectionable in applications such as
precision sample and hold circuits.
5.3.8 Leakage
Leakage is equivalent to a resistor in parallel with the capacitor. Constant exposure to heat can cause dielectric
breakdown and excessive leakage, a problem often seen
in older vacuum tube circuits, particularly where oiled
paper and foil capacitors were used. In many vacuum
tube circuits, interstage coupling capacitors are used to
conduct a varying signal from the plate of one tube to
the grid circuit of the next stage. A leaky capacitor can
cause the grid circuit voltage to be raised from its normal bias setting, causing excessive current or signal distortion in the downstream tube. In power ampliers this
can cause the plates to glow red, or current limiting resistors to overheat, even fail. Similar considerations apply to
5.3.6 Current and voltage reversal
component fabricated solid-state (transistor) ampliers,
Current reversal occurs when the current changes direc- but owing to lower heat production and the use of modtion. Voltage reversal is the change of polarity in a cir- ern polyester dielectric barriers this once-common probcuit. Reversal is generally described as the percentage lem has become relatively rare.
of the maximum rated voltage that reverses polarity. In
DC circuits, this will usually be less than 100% (often in
the range of 0 to 90%), whereas AC circuits experience 5.3.9 Electrolytic failure from disuse
100% reversal.
Aluminum electrolytic capacitors are conditioned when
In DC circuits and pulsed circuits, current and voltage remanufactured by applying a voltage sucient to initiate
versal are aected by the damping of the system. Voltage
the proper internal chemical state. This state is mainreversal is encountered in RLC circuits that are undertained by regular use of the equipment. In former times,
damped. The current and voltage reverse direction, formroughly 30 years ago, if a system using electrolytic capacing a harmonic oscillator between the inductance and caitors is unused for a long period of time it can lose its conpacitance. The current and voltage will tend to oscillate
ditioning. Sometimes they fail with a short circuit when
and may reverse direction several times, with each peak
next operated. For further information see Aluminum
being lower than the previous, until the system reaches
electrolytic capacitor#Capacitor behavior after storage or
an equilibrium. This is often referred to as ringing. In
disuse
comparison, critically damped or over-damped systems
usually do not experience a voltage reversal. Reversal is
also encountered in AC circuits, where the peak current
will be equal in each direction.
5.4 Capacitor types
For maximum life, capacitors usually need to be able to
handle the maximum amount of reversal that a system
will experience. An AC circuit will experience 100%
voltage reversal, while under-damped DC circuits will experience less than 100%. Reversal creates excess electric elds in the dielectric, causes excess heating of both
the dielectric and the conductors, and can dramatically
shorten the life expectancy of the capacitor. Reversal ratings will often aect the design considerations for the capacitor, from the choice of dielectric materials and voltage ratings to the types of internal connections used.[24]
Main article: Types of capacitor

Practical capacitors are available commercially in many
dierent forms. The type of internal dielectric, the structure of the plates and the device packaging all strongly
aect the characteristics of the capacitor, and its applications.
Values available range from very low (picofarad range;
while arbitrarily low values are in principle possible, stray
5.4. CAPACITOR TYPES
45
(parasitic) capacitance in any circuit is the limiting factor) amounts of energy, respectively, ceramic capacitors are
to about 5 kF supercapacitors.
often used in resonators, and parasitic capacitance ocAbove approximately 1 microfarad electrolytic capacitors curs in circuits wherever the simple conductor-insulatorare usually used because of their small size and low cost conductor structure is formed unintentionally by the concompared with other types, unless their relatively poor guration of the circuit layout.
stability, life and polarised nature make them unsuitable. Electrolytic capacitors use an aluminum or tantalum plate
Very high capacity supercapacitors use a porous carbon- with an oxide dielectric layer. The second electrode is a
based electrode material.
liquid electrolyte, connected to the circuit by another foil
plate. Electrolytic capacitors oer very high capacitance
but suer from poor tolerances, high instability, gradual
5.4.1 Dielectric materials
loss of capacitance especially when subjected to heat, and
high leakage current. Poor quality capacitors may leak
electrolyte, which is harmful to printed circuit boards.
The conductivity of the electrolyte drops at low temperatures, which increases equivalent series resistance. While
widely used for power-supply conditioning, poor highfrequency characteristics make them unsuitable for many
applications. Electrolytic capacitors will self-degrade if
unused for a period (around a year), and when full power
is applied may short circuit, permanently damaging the
Capacitor materials. From left: multilayer ceramic, ceramic disc,
capacitor and usually blowing a fuse or causing failure of
multilayer polyester lm, tubular ceramic, polystyrene, metalized
rectier diodes (for instance, in older equipment, arcing
polyester lm, aluminum electrolytic. Major scale divisions are
in rectier tubes). They can be restored before use (and
in centimetres.
damage) by gradually applying the operating voltage, ofMost types of capacitor include a dielectric spacer, which ten done on antique vacuum tube equipment over a period
increases their capacitance. These dielectrics are most of 30 minutes by using a variable transformer to supply
often insulators. However, low capacitance devices are AC power. Unfortunately, the use of this technique may
available with a vacuum between their plates, which al- be less satisfactory for some solid state equipment, which
lows extremely high voltage operation and low losses. may be damaged by operation below its normal power
Variable capacitors with their plates open to the atmo- range, requiring that the power supply rst be isolated
sphere were commonly used in radio tuning circuits. from the consuming circuits. Such remedies may not be
Later designs use polymer foil dielectric between the applicable to modern high-frequency power supplies as
moving and stationary plates, with no signicant air space these produce full output voltage even with reduced input.
between them.
In order to maximise the charge that a capacitor can hold,
the dielectric material needs to have as high a permittivity
as possible, while also having as high a breakdown voltage
as possible.
Tantalum capacitors oer better frequency and temperature characteristics than aluminum, but higher dielectric
absorption and leakage.[25]
Polymer capacitors (OS-CON, OC-CON, KO, AO) use

Several solid dielectrics are available, including paper, solid conductive polymer (or polymerized organic semiplastic, glass, mica and ceramic materials. Paper was conductor) as electrolyte and oer longer life and lower
used extensively in older devices and oers relatively high ESR at higher cost than standard electrolytic capacitors.
voltage performance. However, it is susceptible to wa- A feedthrough capacitor is a component that, while not
ter absorption, and has been largely replaced by plastic serving as its main use, has capacitance and is used to
lm capacitors. Plastics oer better stability and ageing conduct signals through a conductive sheet.
performance, which makes them useful in timer circuits,
Several other types of capacitor are available for specialist
although they may be limited to low operating temperapplications. Supercapacitors store large amounts of enatures and frequencies. Ceramic capacitors are generergy. Supercapacitors made from carbon aerogel, carbon
ally small, cheap and useful for high frequency applicananotubes, or highly porous electrode materials, oer extions, although their capacitance varies strongly with volttremely high capacitance (up to 5 kF as of 2010) and can
age and they age poorly. They are broadly categorized
be used in some applications instead of rechargeable batas class 1 dielectrics, which have predictable variation
teries. Alternating current capacitors are specically deof capacitance with temperature or class 2 dielectrics,
signed to work on line (mains) voltage AC power circuits.
which can operate at higher voltage. Glass and mica
They are commonly used in electric motor circuits and are
capacitors are extremely reliable, stable and tolerant to
often designed to handle large currents, so they tend to be
high temperatures and voltages, but are too expensive
physically large. They are usually ruggedly packaged, offor most mainstream applications. Electrolytic capaciten in metal cases that can be easily grounded/earthed.
tors and supercapacitors are used to store small and larger
46
They also are designed with direct current breakdown

voltages of at least ve times the maximum AC voltage.
5.4.2
Structure
Several axial-lead electrolytic capacitors
parallel as manufactured.
Small, cheap discoidal ceramic capacitors have existed
since the 1930s, and remain in widespread use. Since the
1980s, surface mount packages for capacitors have been
Capacitor packages: SMD ceramic at top left; SMD tantalum at widely used. These packages are extremely small and lack
bottom left; through-hole tantalum at top right; through-hole elec- connecting leads, allowing them to be soldered directly
onto the surface of printed circuit boards. Surface mount
trolytic at bottom right. Major scale divisions are cm.
components avoid undesirable high-frequency eects due
The arrangement of plates and dielectric has many vari- to the leads and simplify automated assembly, although
ations depending on the desired ratings of the capaci- manual handling is made dicult due to their small size.
tor. For small values of capacitance (microfarads and Mechanically controlled variable capacitors allow the
less), ceramic disks use metallic coatings, with wire leads plate spacing to be adjusted, for example by rotating
bonded to the coating. Larger values can be made by mul- or sliding a set of movable plates into alignment with
tiple stacks of plates and disks. Larger value capacitors a set of stationary plates. Low cost variable capacusually use a metal foil or metal lm layer deposited on itors squeeze together alternating layers of aluminum
the surface of a dielectric lm to make the plates, and a and plastic with a screw. Electrical control of capacidielectric lm of impregnated paper or plastic these are tance is achievable with varactors (or varicaps), which are
rolled up to save space. To reduce the series resistance reverse-biased semiconductor diodes whose depletion reand inductance for long plates, the plates and dielectric gion width varies with applied voltage. They are used in
are staggered so that connection is made at the common phase-locked loops, amongst other applications.
edge of the rolled-up plates, not at the ends of the foil or
metalized lm strips that comprise the plates.
The assembly is encased to prevent moisture entering the
dielectric early radio equipment used a cardboard tube
sealed with wax. Modern paper or lm dielectric capacitors are dipped in a hard thermoplastic. Large capacitors
for high-voltage use may have the roll form compressed
to t into a rectangular metal case, with bolted terminals
and bushings for connections. The dielectric in larger capacitors is often impregnated with a liquid to improve its
properties.
Capacitors may have their connecting leads arranged
in many congurations, for example axially or radially.
Axial means that the leads are on a common axis, typically the axis of the capacitors cylindrical body the
leads extend from opposite ends. Radial leads might more
accurately be referred to as tandem; they are rarely actually aligned along radii of the bodys circle, so the term
is inexact, although universal. The leads (until bent) are
usually in planes parallel to that of the at body of the capacitor, and extend in the same direction; they are often
5.5 Capacitor markings

See also: Preferred number E series
Most capacitors have numbers printed on their bodies to
indicate their electrical characteristics. Larger capacitors
like electrolytics usually display the actual capacitance together with the unit (for example, 220 F). Smaller capacitors like ceramics, however, use a shorthand consisting of three numeric digits and a letter, where the digits
indicate the capacitance in pF (calculated as XY 10Z
for digits XYZ) and the letter indicates the tolerance (J,
K or M for 5%, 10% and 20% respectively).
Additionally, the capacitor may show its working voltage,
temperature and other relevant characteristics.
For typographical reasons, some manufacturers print
MF on capacitors to indicate microfarads (F).[26]
5.6. APPLICATIONS
5.5.1
Example
47
amplier to use on demand. Also for a ash tube a capacitor is used to hold the high voltage.
A capacitor with the text 473K 330V on its body has a

capacitance of 47 103 pF = 47 nF (10%) with a working voltage of 330 V. The working voltage of a capacitor 5.6.2 Pulsed power and weapons
is the highest voltage that can be applied across it without
undue risk of breaking down the dielectric layer.
Groups of large, specially constructed, low-inductance
high-voltage capacitors (capacitor banks) are used to supply huge pulses of current for many pulsed power appli5.6 Applications
cations. These include electromagnetic forming, Marx
generators, pulsed lasers (especially TEA lasers), pulse
forming networks, radar, fusion research, and particle acMain article: Applications of capacitors
celerators.
Large capacitor banks (reservoir) are used as energy sources for the exploding-bridgewire detonators or
slapper detonators in nuclear weapons and other specialty
weapons. Experimental work is under way using banks of
capacitors as power sources for electromagnetic armour
and electromagnetic railguns and coilguns.
5.6.3 Power conditioning
This mylar-lm, oil-lled capacitor has very low inductance and

low resistance, to provide the high-power (70 megawatt) and high
speed (1.2 microsecond) discharge needed to operate a dye laser.
5.6.1
Energy storage
A 10,000 microfarad capacitor in an amplier power supply
Reservoir capacitors are used in power supplies where

they smooth the output of a full or half wave rectier.
They can also be used in charge pump circuits as the energy storage element in the generation of higher voltages
than the input voltage.
Capacitors are connected in parallel with the power circuits of most electronic devices and larger systems (such
as factories) to shunt away and conceal current uctuations from the primary power source to provide a clean
power supply for signal or control circuits. Audio equipment, for example, uses several capacitors in this way, to
shunt away power line hum before it gets into the signal
circuitry. The capacitors act as a local reserve for the DC
Conventional capacitors provide less than 360 joules power source, and bypass AC currents from the power
per kilogram of energy density, whereas a conventional supply. This is used in car audio applications, when a
alkaline battery has a density of 590 kJ/kg.
stiening capacitor compensates for the inductance and
In car audio systems, large capacitors store energy for the resistance of the leads to the lead-acid car battery.
A capacitor can store electric energy when disconnected
from its charging circuit, so it can be used like a temporary battery, or like other types of rechargeable energy
storage system.[27] Capacitors are commonly used in electronic devices to maintain power supply while batteries
are being changed. (This prevents loss of information in
volatile memory.)
48
Power factor correction
Polyester lm capacitors are frequently used as coupling capacitors.
Decoupling
Main article: decoupling capacitor
A decoupling capacitor is a capacitor used to protect one
part of a circuit from the eect of another, for instance to
suppress noise or transients. Noise caused by other circuit elements is shunted through the capacitor, reducing
the eect they have on the rest of the circuit. It is most
commonly used between the power supply and ground.
An alternative name is bypass capacitor as it is used to
bypass the power supply or other high impedance component of a circuit.
A high-voltage capacitor bank used for power factor correction
on a power transmission system
Decoupling capacitors need not always be discrete components. Capacitors used in these applications may be
built in to a printed circuit board, between the various layers. These are often referred to as embedded
capacitors.[28] The layers in the board contributing to the
capacitive properties also function as power and ground
planes, and have a dielectric in between them, enabling
them to operate as a parallel plate capacitor.
In electric power distribution, capacitors are used for

power factor correction. Such capacitors often come as
three capacitors connected as a three phase load. Usually,
the values of these capacitors are given not in farads but
rather as a reactive power in volt-amperes reactive (var).
The purpose is to counteract inductive loading from devices like electric motors and transmission lines to make
the load appear to be mostly resistive. Individual mo- High-pass and low-pass lters
tor or lamp loads may have capacitors for power factor
correction, or larger sets of capacitors (usually with auto- Further information: High-pass lter and Low-pass lter
matic switching devices) may be installed at a load center
within a building or in a large utility substation.
Noise suppression, spikes, and snubbers
5.6.4
Suppression and coupling
Further information: High-pass lter and Low-pass lter
Signal coupling
Main article: capacitive coupling
Because capacitors pass AC but block DC signals (when
charged up to the applied dc voltage), they are often used
to separate the AC and DC components of a signal. This
method is known as AC coupling or capacitive coupling.
Here, a large value of capacitance, whose value need not
be accurately controlled, but whose reactance is small at
the signal frequency, is employed.
When an inductive circuit is opened, the current through

the inductance collapses quickly, creating a large voltage across the open circuit of the switch or relay. If the
inductance is large enough, the energy will generate a
spark, causing the contact points to oxidize, deteriorate,
or sometimes weld together, or destroying a solid-state
switch. A snubber capacitor across the newly opened
circuit creates a path for this impulse to bypass the contact points, thereby preserving their life; these were com-
5.6. APPLICATIONS
monly found in contact breaker ignition systems, for instance. Similarly, in smaller scale circuits, the spark may
not be enough to damage the switch but will still radiate
undesirable radio frequency interference (RFI), which a
lter capacitor absorbs. Snubber capacitors are usually
employed with a low-value resistor in series, to dissipate
energy and minimize RFI. Such resistor-capacitor combinations are available in a single package.
49
of integrators or more complex lters and in negative
feedback loop stabilization. Signal processing circuits
also use capacitors to integrate a current signal.
Tuned circuits
Capacitors and inductors are applied together in tuned

circuits to select information in particular frequency
Capacitors are also used in parallel to interrupt units of a bands. For example, radio receivers rely on variable cahigh-voltage circuit breaker in order to equally distribute pacitors to tune the station frequency. Speakers use pasthe voltage between these units. In this case they are sive analog crossovers, and analog equalizers use capacicalled grading capacitors.
tors to select dierent audio bands.
In schematic diagrams, a capacitor used primarily for DC The resonant frequency f of a tuned circuit is a function
charge storage is often drawn vertically in circuit dia- of the inductance (L) and capacitance (C) in series, and
grams with the lower, more negative, plate drawn as an is given by:
arc. The straight plate indicates the positive terminal of
the device, if it is polarized (see electrolytic capacitor).
1
f=
2
LC
5.6.5 Motor starters
Main article: motor capacitor
In single phase squirrel cage motors, the primary winding within the motor housing is not capable of starting a
rotational motion on the rotor, but is capable of sustaining one. To start the motor, a secondary start winding has a series non-polarized starting capacitor to introduce a lead in the sinusoidal current. When the secondary (start) winding is placed at an angle with respect
to the primary (run) winding, a rotating electric eld is
created. The force of the rotational eld is not constant,
but is sucient to start the rotor spinning. When the rotor comes close to operating speed, a centrifugal switch
(or current-sensitive relay in series with the main winding) disconnects the capacitor. The start capacitor is typically mounted to the side of the motor housing. These
are called capacitor-start motors, that have relatively high
starting torque. Typically they can have up-to four times
as much starting torque than a split-phase motor and are
used on applications such as compressors, pressure washers and any small device requiring high starting torques.
Capacitor-run induction motors have a permanently connected phase-shifting capacitor in series with a second
winding. The motor is much like a two-phase induction
motor.
Motor-starting capacitors are typically non-polarized
electrolytic types, while running capacitors are conventional paper or plastic lm dielectric types.
5.6.6
Signal processing
The energy stored in a capacitor can be used to represent

information, either in binary form, as in DRAMs, or in
analogue form, as in analog sampled lters and CCDs.
Capacitors can be used in analog circuits as components
where L is in henries and C is in farads.
5.6.7 Sensing
Main article: capacitive sensing
Main article: Capacitive displacement sensor
Most capacitors are designed to maintain a xed physical structure. However, various factors can change the
structure of the capacitor, and the resulting change in capacitance can be used to sense those factors.
Changing the dielectric:
The eects of varying the characteristics of the

dielectric can be used for sensing purposes.
Capacitors with an exposed and porous dielectric can be used to measure humidity in air. Capacitors are used to accurately measure the fuel
level in airplanes; as the fuel covers more of a
pair of plates, the circuit capacitance increases.
Changing the distance between the plates:
Capacitors with a exible plate can be used

to measure strain or pressure. Industrial pressure transmitters used for process control use
pressure-sensing diaphragms, which form a capacitor plate of an oscillator circuit. Capacitors are used as the sensor in condenser microphones, where one plate is moved by air pressure, relative to the xed position of the other
50
plate. Some accelerometers use MEMS capacitors etched on a chip to measure the magnitude and direction of the acceleration vector.
They are used to detect changes in acceleration, in tilt sensors, or to detect free fall, as sensors triggering airbag deployment, and in many
other applications. Some ngerprint sensors
use capacitors. Additionally, a user can adjust
the pitch of a theremin musical instrument by
moving their hand since this changes the eective capacitance between the users hand and
the antenna.
Changing the eective area of the plates:
Capacitive touch switches are now used on

many consumer electronic products.
5.6.8
even potentially fatal shocks or damage connected equipment. For example, even a seemingly innocuous device such as a disposable camera ash unit powered by
a 1.5 volt AA battery contains a capacitor which may be
charged to over 300 volts. This is easily capable of delivering a shock. Service procedures for electronic devices
usually include instructions to discharge large or highvoltage capacitors, for instance using a Brinkley stick.
Capacitors may also have built-in discharge resistors to
dissipate stored energy to a safe level within a few seconds after power is removed. High-voltage capacitors are
stored with the terminals shorted, as protection from potentially dangerous voltages due to dielectric absorption.
Some old, large oil-lled paper or plastic lm capacitors contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). It is
known that waste PCBs can leak into groundwater under landlls. Capacitors containing PCB were labelled
as containing Askarel and several other trade names.
PCB-lled paper capacitors are found in very old (pre1975) uorescent lamp ballasts, and other applications.
Oscillators
Capacitors may catastrophically fail when subjected to

voltages or currents beyond their rating, or as they reach
Further information: Hartley oscillator
their normal end of life. Dielectric or metal interconA capacitor can possess spring-like qualities in an oscil- nection failures may create arcing that vaporizes the dielectric uid, resulting in case bulging, rupture, or even
an explosion. Capacitors used in RF or sustained highcurrent applications can overheat, especially in the center
of the capacitor rolls. Capacitors used within high-energy
capacitor banks can violently explode when a short in one
capacitor causes sudden dumping of energy stored in the
rest of the bank into the failing unit. High voltage vacuum
capacitors can generate soft X-rays even during normal
operation. Proper containment, fusing, and preventive
maintenance can help to minimize these hazards.
High-voltage capacitors can benet from a pre-charge to
limit in-rush currents at power-up of high voltage direct
current (HVDC) circuits. This will extend the life of the
component and may mitigate high-voltage hazards.
Swollen caps of electrolytic capacitors special
design of semi-cut caps prevents capacitors from
bursting
Example of a simple oscillator that requires a capacitor to function
lator circuit. In the image example, a capacitor acts to

inuence the biasing voltage at the npn transistors base.
The resistance values of the voltage-divider resistors and
the capacitance value of the capacitor together control the
oscillatory frequency.
This high-energy capacitor from a debrillator can

deliver over 500 joules of energy. A resistor is connected between the terminals for safety, to allow the
stored energy to be released.
Catastrophic failure
5.8 See also

5.7 Hazards and safety
Capacitors may retain a charge long after power is removed from a circuit; this charge can cause dangerous or
Capacitance meter
Capacitor plague
Circuit design
5.10. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Electric displacement eld
Electroluminescence
51
[16] Capacitor charging and discharging. All About Circuits.

Gimmick capacitor
[17] Pillai, K. P. P. (1970).

Fringing eld of nite
parallel-plate capacitors.
Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers 117 (6): 12011204.
doi:10.1049/piee.1970.0232.
Vacuum variable capacitor
[18] Ulaby, p.170
Electronic oscillator
5.9 References
[1] Bird, John (2010). Electrical and Electronic Principles and Technology. Routledge. pp. 6376. ISBN
9780080890562. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[2] Williams, Henry Smith. A History of Science Volume
II, Part VI: The Leyden Jar Discovered. Retrieved 201303-17.
[19] Pai, S. T.; Qi Zhang (1995). Introduction to High Power

Pulse Technology. Advanced Series in Electrical and
Computer Engineering 10. World Scientic. ISBN
9789810217143. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[20] Dyer, Stephen A. (2004). Wiley Survey of Instrumentation
and Measurement. John Wiley & Sons. p. 397. ISBN
9780471221654. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[21] Scherz, Paul (2006). Practical Electronics for Inventors
(2nd ed.). McGraw Hill Professional. p. 100. ISBN
9780071776448. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[3] Keithley, Joseph F. (1999). The Story of Electrical and

Magnetic Measurements: From 500 BC to the 1940s. John
Wiley & Sons. p. 23. ISBN 9780780311930. Retrieved
2013-03-17.
[22] Bird, John (2007). Electrical Circuit Theory and Technology. Routledge. p. 501. ISBN 9780750681391. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[4] Houston, Edwin J. (1905). Electricity in Every-day Life.

P. F. Collier & Son. p. 71. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[23] Ceramic Capacitor Aging Made Simple. Johanson Dielectrics. 2012-05-21. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[5] Isaacson, Walter (2003). Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. Simon and Schuster. p. 136. ISBN
9780743260848. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[24] The Eect of Reversal on Capacitor Life (PDF). Engineering Bulletin 96-004. Sorrento Electronics. November
2003. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[6] Franklin, Benjamin (1749-04-29). Experiments & Observations on Electricity: Letter IV to Peter Collinson
(PDF). p. 28. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
[25] Guinta, Steve. Ask The Applications Engineer 21.

Analog Devices. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[7] Morse, Robert A. (September 2004). Franklin and

ElectrostaticsBen Franklin as my Lab Partner (PDF).
Wright Center for Science Education. Tufts University. p.
23. Retrieved 2009-08-10. After Voltas discovery of the
electrochemical cell in 1800, the term was then applied to
a group of electrochemical cells
[8] eFunda: Glossary: Units: Electric Capacitance: Jar.
eFunda. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
[9] Sketch of Alessandro Volta. The Popular Science
Monthly (New York: Bonnier Corporation): 118119.
May 1892. ISSN 0161-7370.
[10] Ulaby, p.168
[11] Ulaby, p.157
[12] Ulaby, p.169
[13] Hammond, Percy (1964). Electromagnetism for Engineers: An Introductory Course. The Commonwealth and
International Library of Science, Technology, Engineering and Liberal Studies. Applied Electricity and Electronics Division 3. Pergamon Press. pp. 4445.
[14] Dorf, p.263
[15] Dorf, p.260
[26] Kaplan, Daniel M.; White, Christopher G. Hands-On

Electronics: A Practical Introduction to Analog and Digital Circuits. p. 19.
[27] Miller, Charles. Illustrated Guide to the National Electrical
Code, p. 445 (Cengage Learning 2011).
[28] Alam, Mohammed; Michael H. Azarian; Michael Osterman; Michael Pecht (2010). Eectiveness of embedded
capacitors in reducing the number of surface mount capacitors for decoupling applications. Circuit World 36
(1): 22. doi:10.1108/03056121011015068.
5.10 Bibliography
Dorf, Richard C.; Svoboda, James A. (2001).
Introduction to Electric Circuits (5th ed.). New York:
John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780471386896.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
LXXII, Appendix 8, 1782 (Volta coins the word
condenser)
Ulaby, Fawwaz Tayssir (1999). Fundamentals of
Applied Electromagnetics. Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 9780130115546.
52
Zorpette, Glenn (2005). Super Charged: A
Tiny South Korean Company is Out to Make
Capacitors Powerful enough to Propel the Next
IEEE
Generation of Hybrid-Electric Cars.
Spectrum (North American ed.) 42 (1): 32.
doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2005.1377872.
Deshpande, R.P. (2014). Capacitors. McGraw-Hill.
ISBN 9780071848565.
5.11 External links

Capacitors: Interactive Tutorial National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Currier, Dean P. (2000). Adventures in Cybersound Ewald Christian von Kleist. Archived from
the original on 2008-06-25.
The First Condenser A Beer Glass. SparkMuseum.
Howstuworks.com: How Capacitors Work
CapSite 2015: Introduction to Capacitors
Capacitor Tutorial Includes how to read capacitor
temperature codes
Introduction to Capacitor and Capacitor codes
Low ESR Capacitor Manufacturers
How Capacitor Works Capacitor Markings and
Color Codes
Chapter 6
Inductor
6.1 Overview
Inductance (L) results from the magnetic eld around a
current-carrying conductor; the electric current through
the conductor creates a magnetic ux. Mathematically speaking, inductance is determined by how much
magnetic ux through the circuit is created by a given
current i[1][2][3][4]
Axial lead inductors (100 H)
L=
(1)
Inductors that have ferromagnetic cores are nonlinear; the

inductance changes with the current, in this more general
case inductance is dened as
An inductor, also called a coil or reactor, is a passive
two-terminal electrical component which resists changes
in electric current passing through it. It consists of a conductor such as a wire, usually wound into a coil. When
a current ows through it, energy is stored temporarily
in a magnetic eld in the coil. When the current owing through an inductor changes, the time-varying magnetic eld induces a voltage in the conductor, according
to Faradays law of electromagnetic induction, which opposes the change in current that created it. As a result,
inductors always oppose a change in current, in the same
way that a ywheel oppose a change in rotational velocity. Care should be taken not to confuse this with the
resistance provided by a resistor.
An inductor is characterized by its inductance, the ratio
of the voltage to the rate of change of current, which
has units of henries (H). Inductors have values that typically range from 1 H (106 H) to 1 H. Many inductors have a magnetic core made of iron or ferrite inside
the coil, which serves to increase the magnetic eld and
thus the inductance. Along with capacitors and resistors,
inductors are one of the three passive linear circuit elements that make up electric circuits. Inductors are
widely used in alternating current (AC) electronic equipment, particularly in radio equipment. They are used
to block AC while allowing DC to pass; inductors designed for this purpose are called chokes. They are also
used in electronic lters to separate signals of dierent
frequencies, and in combination with capacitors to make
tuned circuits, used to tune radio and TV receivers.
L=
d
di
Any wire or other conductor will generate a magnetic

eld when current ows through it, so every conductor
has some inductance. The inductance of a circuit depends on the geometry of the current path as well as the
magnetic permeability of nearby materials. An inductor
is a component consisting of a wire or other conductor
shaped to increase the magnetic ux through the circuit,
usually in the shape of a coil or helix. Winding the wire
into a coil increases the number of times the magnetic
ux lines link the circuit, increasing the eld and thus the
inductance. The more turns, the higher the inductance.
The inductance also depends on the shape of the coil, separation of the turns, and many other factors. By adding
a "magnetic core" made of a ferromagnetic material like
iron inside the coil, the magnetizing eld from the coil
will induce magnetization in the material, increasing the
magnetic ux. The high permeability of a ferromagnetic
core can increase the inductance of a coil by a factor of
several thousand over what it would be without it.
6.1.1 Constitutive equation

Any change in the current through an inductor creates a
changing ux, inducing a voltage across the inductor. By
Faradays law of induction, the voltage induced by any
change in magnetic ux through the circuit is[4]
53
54
CHAPTER 6. INDUCTOR
Inductors with ferromagnetic cores have additional energy losses due to hysteresis and eddy currents in the core,
d
which increase with frequency. At high currents, iron
v=
dt
core inductors also show gradual departure from ideal behavior due to nonlinearity caused by magnetic saturation
[4]
From (1) above
of the core. An inductor may radiate electromagnetic
energy into surrounding space and circuits, and may abd
di
v = dt
(Li) = L dt
(2)
sorb electromagnetic emissions from other circuits, causing electromagnetic interference (EMI). Real-world inSo inductance is also a measure of the amount of ductor applications may consider these parasitic parameelectromotive force (voltage) generated for a given rate ters as important as the inductance.
of change of current. For example, an inductor with an
inductance of 1 henry produces an EMF of 1 volt when
the current through the inductor changes at the rate of 6.2 Applications
1 ampere per second. This is usually taken to be the
constitutive relation (dening equation) of the inductor.
The dual of the inductor is the capacitor, which stores
energy in an electric eld rather than a magnetic eld. Its
current-voltage relation is obtained by exchanging current
and voltage in the inductor equations and replacing L with
the capacitance C.
6.1.2
Lenzs law
The polarity (direction) of the induced voltage is given by

Lenzs law, which states that it will be such as to oppose
the change in current. For example, if the current through
an inductor is increasing, the induced voltage will be positive at the terminal through which the current enters and
negative at the terminal through which it leaves. The en- Large 50 MVAR three-phase iron-core loading inductor at a Gerergy from the external circuit necessary to overcome this man utility substation
potential hill is being stored in the magnetic eld of the
inductor; the inductor is said to be "charging" or energizing. If the current is decreasing, the induced voltage
will be negative at the terminal through which the current
enters. Energy from the magnetic eld is being returned
to the circuit; the inductor is said to be discharging.
6.1.3
Ideal and real inductors
In circuit theory, inductors are idealized as obeying the

mathematical relation (2) above precisely. An ideal inductor has inductance, but no resistance or capacitance,
and does not dissipate or radiate energy. However real
inductors have side eects which cause their behavior to
depart from this simple model. They have resistance (due
to the resistance of the wire and energy losses in core
material), and parasitic capacitance (due to the electric
eld between the turns of wire which are at slightly dierent potentials). At high frequencies the capacitance begins to aect the inductors behavior; at some frequency,
real inductors behave as resonant circuits, becoming selfresonant. Above the resonant frequency the capacitive
reactance becomes the dominant part of the impedance.
At higher frequencies, resistive losses in the windings increase due to skin eect and proximity eect.
A ferrite bead choke, consisting of an encircling ferrite cylinder,

removes electronic noise from a computer power cord.
Inductors are used extensively in analog circuits and signal processing. Applications range from the use of large
inductors in power supplies, which in conjunction with lter capacitors remove residual hums known as the mains
hum or other uctuations from the direct current output,
to the small inductance of the ferrite bead or torus installed around a cable to prevent radio frequency interference from being transmitted down the wire. Inductors
6.3. INDUCTOR CONSTRUCTION
55
ence (EMI), and most of all because of their bulk which
prevents them from being integrated on semiconductor chips, the use of inductors is declining in modern
electronic devices, particularly compact portable devices.
Real inductors are increasingly being replaced by active
circuits such as the gyrator which can synthesize inductance using capacitors.
Example of signal ltering. In this conguration, the inductor

blocks AC current, while allowing DC current to pass.
6.3 Inductor construction
Example of signal ltering. In this conguration, the inductor

decouples DC current, while allowing AC current to pass.
are used as the energy storage device in many switchedmode power supplies to produce DC current. The inductor supplies energy to the circuit to keep current owing
during the o switching periods.
An inductor connected to a capacitor forms a tuned circuit, which acts as a resonator for oscillating current.
Tuned circuits are widely used in radio frequency equipment such as radio transmitters and receivers, as narrow
bandpass lters to select a single frequency from a composite signal, and in electronic oscillators to generate sinusoidal signals.
Two (or more) inductors in proximity that have coupled
magnetic ux (mutual inductance) form a transformer,
which is a fundamental component of every electric
utility power grid. The eciency of a transformer may
decrease as the frequency increases due to eddy currents
in the core material and skin eect on the windings. The
size of the core can be decreased at higher frequencies.
For this reason, aircraft use 400 hertz alternating current
rather than the usual 50 or 60 hertz, allowing a great saving in weight from the use of smaller transformers.[5]
Inductors are also employed in electrical transmission
systems, where they are used to limit switching currents
and fault currents. In this eld, they are more commonly
referred to as reactors.
A ferrite core inductor with two 47 mH windings.
An inductor usually consists of a coil of conducting material, typically insulated copper wire, wrapped
around a core either of plastic or of a ferromagnetic (or
ferrimagnetic) material; the latter is called an iron core
inductor. The high permeability of the ferromagnetic
core increases the magnetic eld and connes it closely
to the inductor, thereby increasing the inductance. Low
frequency inductors are constructed like transformers,
with cores of electrical steel laminated to prevent eddy
currents. 'Soft' ferrites are widely used for cores above
audio frequencies, since they do not cause the large energy losses at high frequencies that ordinary iron alloys
do. Inductors come in many shapes. Most are constructed as enamel coated wire (magnet wire) wrapped
around a ferrite bobbin with wire exposed on the outside,
while some enclose the wire completely in ferrite and are
referred to as shielded. Some inductors have an adjustable core, which enables changing of the inductance.
Inductors used to block very high frequencies are sometimes made by stringing a ferrite bead on a wire.
Because inductors have complicated side eects (detailed

below) which cause them to depart from ideal behavior, because they can radiate electromagnetic interfer- Small inductors can be etched directly onto a printed cir-
56
CHAPTER 6. INDUCTOR
cuit board by laying out the trace in a spiral pattern. Some vibration of the windings can cause variations in the insuch planar inductors use a planar core.
ductance.
Small value inductors can also be built on integrated circuits using the same processes that are used to make Radio frequency inductor
transistors. Aluminium interconnect is typically used,
laid out in a spiral coil pattern. However, the small dimensions limit the inductance, and it is far more common
to use a circuit called a "gyrator" that uses a capacitor and
active components to behave similarly to an inductor.
6.4 Types of inductor

6.4.1
Air core inductor
Collection of RF inductors, showing techniques to reduce

losses. The three top left and the ferrite loopstick or rod
antenna,[6][7][8][9] bottom, have basket windings.
At high frequencies, particularly radio frequencies (RF),

inductors have higher resistance and other losses. In
addition to causing power loss, in resonant circuits this
can reduce the Q factor of the circuit, broadening the
bandwidth. In RF inductors, which are mostly air core
types, specialized construction techniques are used to
minimize these losses. The losses are due to these effects:
Skin eect: The resistance of a wire to high frequency current is higher than its resistance to direct
current because of skin eect. Radio frequency alternating current does not penetrate far into the body
of a conductor but travels along its surface. Therefore, in a solid wire, most of the cross sectional area
of the wire is not used to conduct the current, which
is in a narrow annulus on the surface. This eect increases the resistance of the wire in the coil, which
may already have a relatively high resistance due to
its length and small diameter.
Resonant oscillation transformer from a spark gap transmitter.

Coupling can be adjusted by moving the top coil on the support
rod. Shows high Q construction with spaced turns of large diameter tubing.
The term air core coil describes an inductor that does

not use a magnetic core made of a ferromagnetic material. The term refers to coils wound on plastic, ceramic,
or other nonmagnetic forms, as well as those that have
only air inside the windings. Air core coils have lower
inductance than ferromagnetic core coils, but are often
used at high frequencies because they are free from energy losses called core losses that occur in ferromagnetic
cores, which increase with frequency. A side eect that
can occur in air core coils in which the winding is not
rigidly supported on a form is 'microphony': mechanical
Proximity eect: Another similar eect that also

increases the resistance of the wire at high frequencies is proximity eect, which occurs in parallel
wires that lie close to each other. The individual
magnetic eld of adjacent turns induces eddy currents in the wire of the coil, which causes the current
in the conductor to be concentrated in a thin strip on
the side near the adjacent wire. Like skin eect, this
reduces the eective cross-sectional area of the wire
conducting current, increasing its resistance.
6.4. TYPES OF INDUCTOR
57
tubing which has a larger surface area, and the surface is
silver-plated.
Basket-weave coils: To reduce proximity eect and
parasitic capacitance, multilayer RF coils are wound
in patterns in which successive turns are not parallel
but crisscrossed at an angle; these are often called
honeycomb or basket-weave coils. These are occasionally wound on a vertical insulating supports with
dowels or slots, with the wire weaving in and out
through the slots.
High Q tank coil in a shortwave transmitter
(left) Spiderweb coil (right) Adjustable ferrite slug-tuned

RF coil with basketweave winding and litz wire
Spiderweb coils: Another construction technique

with similar advantages is at spiral coils.These are
often wound on a at insulating support with radial
spokes or slots, with the wire weaving in and out
through the slots; these are called spiderweb coils.
The form has an odd number of slots, so successive
turns of the spiral lie on opposite sides of the form,
increasing separation.
Litz wire: To reduce skin eect losses, some coils
are wound with a special type of radio frequency
wire called litz wire. Instead of a single solid conductor, litz wire consists of several smaller wire
strands that carry the current. Unlike ordinary
stranded wire, the strands are insulated from each
other, to prevent skin eect from forcing the current to the surface, and are twisted or braided together. The twist pattern ensures that each wire
strand spends the same amount of its length on the
outside of the wire bundle, so skin eect distributes
the current equally between the strands, resulting
in a larger cross-sectional conduction area than an
equivalent single wire.
Dielectric losses: The high frequency electric eld

near the conductors in a tank coil can cause the motion of polar molecules in nearby insulating materials, dissipating energy as heat. So coils used for
tuned circuits are often not wound on coil forms but
are suspended in air, supported by narrow plastic or 6.4.2 Ferromagnetic core inductor
ceramic strips.
Ferromagnetic-core or iron-core inductors use a magnetic
core made of a ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic material
Parasitic capacitance: The capacitance between
such as iron or ferrite to increase the inductance. A magindividual wire turns of the coil, called parasitic
netic core can increase the inductance of a coil by a factor
capacitance, does not cause energy losses but can
of several thousand, by increasing the magnetic eld due
change the behavior of the coil. Each turn of the
to its higher magnetic permeability. However the magcoil is at a slightly dierent potential, so the electric
netic properties of the core material cause several side
eld between neighboring turns stores charge on the
eects which alter the behavior of the inductor and rewire, so the coil acts as if it has a capacitor in parquire special construction:
allel with it. At a high enough frequency this capacitance can resonate with the inductance of the coil
Core losses: A time-varying current in a ferromagforming a tuned circuit, causing the coil to become
netic inductor, which causes a time-varying magself-resonant.
netic eld in its core, causes energy losses in the core
material that are dissipated as heat, due to two proTo reduce parasitic capacitance and proximity eect, RF
cesses:
coils are constructed to avoid having many turns lying
close together, parallel to one another. The windings of
Eddy currents: From Faradays law of inducRF coils are often limited to a single layer, and the turns
tion, the changing magnetic eld can induce
circulating loops of electric current in the conare spaced apart. To reduce resistance due to skin eect,
ductive metal core. The energy in these curin high-power inductors such as those used in transmitrents is dissipated as heat in the resistance of
ters the windings are sometimes made of a metal strip or
58
CHAPTER 6. INDUCTOR
Laminated core inductor
A variety of types of ferrite core inductors and transformers
the core material. The amount of energy lost

increases with the area inside the loop of curLaminated iron core ballast inductor for a metal halide lamp
rent.
Hysteresis: Changing or reversing the magnetic eld in the core also causes losses due to
the motion of the tiny magnetic domains it is
composed of. The energy loss is proportional
to the area of the hysteresis loop in the BH
graph of the core material. Materials with low
coercivity have narrow hysteresis loops and so
low hysteresis losses.
For both of these processes, the energy loss per
cycle of alternating current is constant, so core
losses increase linearly with frequency. Online
core loss calculators[10] are available to calculate the energy loss. Using inputs such as input voltage, output voltage, output current, frequency, ambient temperature, and inductance
these calculators can predict the losses of the
inductors core and AC/DC based on the operating condition of the circuit being used.[11]
Low-frequency inductors are often made with laminated

cores to prevent eddy currents, using construction similar
to transformers. The core is made of stacks of thin steel
sheets or laminations oriented parallel to the eld, with
an insulating coating on the surface. The insulation prevents eddy currents between the sheets, so any remaining
currents must be within the cross sectional area of the individual laminations, reducing the area of the loop and
thus reducing the energy losses greatly. The laminations
are made of low-coercivity silicon steel, to reduce hysteresis losses.
Ferrite-core inductor
For higher frequencies, inductors are made with cores of

ferrite. Ferrite is a ceramic ferrimagnetic material that
is nonconductive, so eddy currents cannot ow within it.
The formulation of ferrite is xxFe2 O4 where xx represents various metals. For inductor cores soft ferrites are
Nonlinearity: If the current through a ferromag- used, which have low coercivity and thus low hysteresis
netic core coil is high enough that the magnetic core losses. Another similar material is powdered iron cesaturates, the inductance will not remain constant mented with a binder.
but will change with the current through the device. This is called nonlinearity and results in distortion of the signal. For example, audio signals can Toroidal core inductor
suer intermodulation distortion in saturated inductors. To prevent this, in linear circuits the current Main article: Toroidal inductors and transformers
through iron core inductors must be limited below In an inductor wound on a straight rod-shaped core, the
the saturation level. Some laminated cores have a magnetic eld lines emerging from one end of the core
narrow air gap in them for this purpose, and pow- must pass through the air to reenter the core at the other
dered iron cores have a distributed air gap. This al- end. This reduces the eld, because much of the magnetic
lows higher levels of magnetic ux and thus higher eld path is in air rather than the higher permeability core
currents through the inductor before it saturates.[12] material. A higher magnetic eld and inductance can be
6.4. TYPES OF INDUCTOR
59
impedance increases with frequency. Its low electrical resistance allows both AC and DC to pass with little power
loss, but it can limit the amount of AC passing through it
due to its reactance.
6.4.3 Variable inductor
Toroidal inductor in the power supply of a wireless router
achieved by forming the core in a closed magnetic circuit. The magnetic eld lines form closed loops within
the core without leaving the core material. The shape often used is a toroidal or doughnut-shaped ferrite core. Because of their symmetry, toroidal cores allow a minimum
of the magnetic ux to escape outside the core (called
leakage ux), so they radiate less electromagnetic interference than other shapes. Toroidal core coils are manufactured of various materials, primarily ferrite, powdered
iron and laminated cores.[13]
Choke
Main article: Choke (electronics)
A choke is designed specically for blocking higher(left) Inductor with a threaded ferrite slug (visible at top)
that can be turned to move it into or out of the coil. 4.2
cm high. (right) A variometer used in radio receivers in
the 1920s
Probably the most common type of variable inductor to-
An MF or HF radio choke for tenths of an ampere, and a ferrite

bead VHF choke for several amperes.
frequency alternating current (AC) in an electrical circuit, while allowing lower frequency or DC current to
pass. It usually consists of a coil of insulated wire often
wound on a magnetic core, although some consist of a
donut-shaped bead of ferrite material strung on a wire.
Like other inductors, chokes resist changes to the current passing through them, and so alternating currents of
higher frequency, which reverse direction rapidly, are resisted more than currents of lower frequency; the chokes
A roller coil, an adjustable air-core RF inductor used in the

tuned circuits of radio transmitters. One of the contacts to the
coil is made by the small grooved wheel, which rides on the wire.
Turning the shaft rotates the coil, moving the contact wheel up or
down the coil, allowing more or fewer turns of the coil into the
circuit, to change the inductance.
day is one with a moveable ferrite magnetic core, which
60
can be slid or screwed in or out of the coil. Moving the
core farther into the coil increases the permeability, increasing the magnetic eld and the inductance. Many
inductors used in radio applications (usually less than
100 MHz) use adjustable cores in order to tune such inductors to their desired value, since manufacturing processes have certain tolerances (inaccuracy). Sometimes
such cores for frequencies above 100 MHz are made
from highly conductive non-magnetic material such as
aluminum. They decrease the inductance because the
magnetic eld must bypass them.
Air core inductors can use sliding contacts or multiple
taps to increase or decrease the number of turns included
in the circuit, to change the inductance. A type much used
in the past but mostly obsolete today has a spring contact
that can slide along the bare surface of the windings. The
disadvantage of this type is that the contact usually shortcircuits one or more turns. These turns act like a singleturn short-circuited transformer secondary winding; the
large currents induced in them cause power losses.
A type of continuously variable air core inductor is the
variometer. This consists of two coils with the same number of turns connected in series, one inside the other. The
inner coil is mounted on a shaft so its axis can be turned
with respect to the outer coil. When the two coils axes
are collinear, with the magnetic elds pointing in the same
direction, the elds add and the inductance is maximum.
When the inner coil is turned so its axis is at an angle
with the outer, the mutual inductance between them is
smaller so the total inductance is less. When the inner
coil is turned 180 so the coils are collinear with their
magnetic elds opposing, the two elds cancel each other
and the inductance is very small. This type has the advantage that it is continuously variable over a wide range. It
is used in antenna tuners and matching circuits to match
low frequency transmitters to their antennas.
CHAPTER 6. INDUCTOR
v(t) = L
di(t)
dt
When there is a sinusoidal alternating current (AC)

through an inductor, a sinusoidal voltage is induced. The
amplitude of the voltage is proportional to the product of
the amplitude (IP) of the current and the frequency (f)
of the current.
i(t) = IP sin(2f t)
di(t)
= 2f IP cos(2f t)
dt
v(t) = 2f LIP cos(2f t)
In this situation, the phase of the current lags that of the
voltage by /2 (90). For sinusoids, as the voltage across
the inductor goes to its maximum value, the current goes
to zero, and as the voltage across the inductor goes to zero,
the current through it goes to its maximum value.
If an inductor is connected to a direct current source with
value I via a resistance R, and then the current source is
short-circuited, the dierential relationship above shows
that the current through the inductor will discharge with
an exponential decay:
i(t) = Ie L t
R
6.5.1 Reactance
The ratio of the peak voltage to the peak current in an inductor energised from a sinusoidal source is called the
reactance and is denoted XL. The sux is to distinguish inductive reactance from capacitive reactance due
to capacitance.
Another method to control the inductance without any

moving parts requires an additional DC current bias
winding which controls the permeability of an easily satVP
2f LIP
XL =
=
urable core material. See Magnetic amplier.
IP
IP
Thus,
6.5 Circuit theory

The eect of an inductor in a circuit is to oppose changes
in current through it by developing a voltage across it proportional to the rate of change of the current. An ideal inductor would oer no resistance to a constant direct current; however, only superconducting inductors have truly
zero electrical resistance.
The relationship between the time-varying voltage v(t)
across an inductor with inductance L and the timevarying current i(t) passing through it is described by the
dierential equation:
XL = 2f L
Reactance is measured in the same units as resistance
(ohms) but is not actually a resistance. A resistance will
dissipate energy as heat when a current passes. This does
not happen with an inductor; rather, energy is stored in
the magnetic eld as the current builds and later returned
to the circuit as the current falls. Inductive reactance is
strongly frequency dependent. At low frequency the reactance falls, and for a steady current (zero frequency)
the inductor behaves as a short-circuit. At increasing frequency, on the other hand, the reactance increases and at
a suciently high frequency the inductor approaches an
open circuit.
6.6. Q FACTOR
6.5.2
61
Laplace circuit analysis (s-domain)
1
1
1
1
=
+
+ +
Leq
L1
L2
Ln
When using the Laplace transform in circuit analysis, the The current through inductors in series stays the same,
impedance of an ideal inductor with no initial current is but the voltage across each inductor can be dierent. The
represented in the s domain by:
sum of the potential dierences (voltage) is equal to the
total voltage. To nd their total inductance:
Z(s) = Ls
where
L1
L is the inductance, and

L2
If the inductor does have initial current, it can be repreLeq = L1 + L2 + + Ln

sented by:
These simple relationships hold true only when there is
adding a voltage source in series with the inductor, no mutual coupling of magnetic elds between individual
having the value:
inductors.
LI0
6.5.4 Stored energy
where
L is the inductance, and
I0 is the initial current in the inductor.
Neglecting losses, the energy (measured in joules, in SI)

stored by an inductor is equal to the amount of work required to establish the current through the inductor, and
therefore the magnetic eld. This is given by:
(Note that the source should have a polarity that is aligned

with the initial current)
Estored =
1 2
LI
2
or by adding a current source in parallel with the

where L is inductance and I is the current through the
inductor, having the value:
inductor.
I0
s
where
I0 is the initial current in the inductor.
This relationship is only valid for linear (non-saturated)

regions of the magnetic ux linkage and current relationship. In general if one decides to nd the energy stored
in a LTI inductor that has initial current in a specic time
between t0 and t1 can use this:
6.5.3
t1
P (t) dt =
E=
Inductor networks
t0
Main article: Series and parallel circuits
6.6
1
1
LI(t1 )2 LI(t0 )2
2
2
Q factor
Inductors in a parallel conguration each have the same An ideal inductor would have no resistance or energy
potential dierence (voltage). To nd their total equiva- losses. However, real inductors have winding resistance
lent inductance (L ):
from the metal wire forming the coils. Since the winding resistance appears as a resistance in series with the
inductor, it is often called the series resistance. The inductors series resistance converts electric current through
the coils into heat, thus causing a loss of inductive quality.
The quality factor (or Q) of an inductor is the ratio of its
inductive reactance to its resistance at a given frequency,
n
1
2
and is a measure of its eciency. The higher the Q factor of the inductor, the closer it approaches the behavior
Ln
62
CHAPTER 6. INDUCTOR
of an ideal, lossless, inductor. High Q inductors are used

with capacitors to make resonant circuits in radio transmitters and receivers. The higher the Q is, the narrower
the bandwidth of the resonant circuit.
Induction coil
The Q factor of an inductor can be found through the following formula, where L is the inductance, R is the inductors eective series resistance, is the radian operating
frequency, and the product L is the inductive reactance:
RL circuit
L
Q=
R
Notice that Q increases linearly with frequency if L and
R are constant. Although they are constant at low frequencies, the parameters vary with frequency. For example, skin eect, proximity eect, and core losses increase
R with frequency; winding capacitance and variations in
permeability with frequency aect L.
Qualitatively, at low frequencies and within limits, increasing the number of turns N improves Q because L
varies as N 2 while R varies linearly with N. Similarly, increasing the radius r of an inductor improves Q because
L varies as r2 while R varies linearly with r. So high Q air
core inductors often have large diameters and many turns.
Both of those examples assume the diameter of the wire
stays the same, so both examples use proportionally more
wire (copper). If the total mass of wire is held constant,
then there would be no advantage to increasing the number of turns or the radius of the turns because the wire
would have to be proportionally thinner.
Using a high permeability ferromagnetic core can greatly
increase the inductance for the same amount of copper,
so the core can also increase the Q. Cores however also
introduce losses that increase with frequency. The core
material is chosen for best results for the frequency band.
At VHF or higher frequencies an air core is likely to be
used.
Inductors wound around a ferromagnetic core may
saturate at high currents, causing a dramatic decrease in
inductance (and Q). This phenomenon can be avoided by
using a (physically larger) air core inductor. A well designed air core inductor may have a Q of several hundred.
6.7 Inductance formulas
Induction cooking
Induction loop
RLC circuit
Magnetomotive force
Reactance (electronics) opposition to a change of
electric current or voltage
Saturable reactor a type of adjustable inductor
Solenoid
6.9 Notes
[1] Singh, Yaduvir (2011). Electro Magnetic Field Theory.
Pearson Education India. p. 65. ISBN 8131760618.
[2] Wadhwa, C. L. (2005). Electrical Power Systems. New
Age International. p. 18. ISBN 8122417221.
[3] Pelcovits, Robert A.; Josh Farkas (2007). Barrons AP
Physics C. Barrons Educatonal Series. p. 646. ISBN
0764137107.
[4] Purcell, Edward M.; David J. Morin (2013). Electricity
and Magnetism. Cambridge Univ. Press. p. 364. ISBN
1107014026.
[5] Aircraft electrical systems. Wonderquest.com. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
[6] An Unassuming Antenna - The Ferrite Loopstick. Radio Time Traveller. January 23, 2011. Retrieved March
5, 2014.
[7] Frost, Phil (December 23, 2013). Whats an appropriate
core material for a loopstick antenna?". Amateur Radio
beta. Stack Exchange, Inc. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
[8] Poisel, Richard (2011). Antenna Systems and Electronic
Warfare Applications. Artech House. p. 280. ISBN
1608074846.
[9] Yadava, R. L. (2011). Antenna and Wave Propagation.
PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. p. 261. ISBN 8120342917.
[10] Vishay. Products - Inductors - IHLP inductor loss calculator tool landing page. Vishay. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
[11] View: Everyone Only Notes. IHLP inductor loss calcu-
The table below lists some common simplied formulas

lator tool. element14. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
for calculating the approximate inductance of several in[12] Inductors 101 (PDF). vishay. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
ductor constructions.
6.8 See also

Gyrator a network element that can simulate an
inductor
[13] Inductor and Magnetic Product Terminology (PDF).

Vishay Dale. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
[14] Nagaoka, Hantaro (1909-05-06). The Inductance Coefcients of Solenoids (PDF) 27. Journal of the College of
Science, Imperial University, Tokyo, Japan. p. 18. Retrieved 2011-11-10.
63
[15] Kenneth L. Kaiser, Electromagnetic Compatibility Handbook, p. 30.64, CRC Press, 2004 ISBN 0849320879.
[16] Rosa, Edward B. (1908).
The Self and Mutual Inductances of Linear Conductors (PDF). Bulletin of the Bureau of Standards 4 (2): 301344.
doi:10.6028/bulletin.088
[17] Rosa 1908, equation (11a), subst. radius = d/2 and cgs
units
[18] Terman 1943, pp. 4849, convert to natural logarithms
and inches to mm.
[19] Terman (1943, p. 48) states for l < 100 d, include d/2l
within the parentheses.
[20] ARRL Handbook, 66th Ed.
League (1989).
American Radio Relay
[21] For the second formula, Terman 1943, p. 58 which cites

to Wheeler 1928.
[22] Terman 1943, p. 58
[23] Terman 1943, p. 57
6.10 References
Terman, Frederick (1943).
Handbook. McGraw-Hill
Radio Engineers
Wheeler, H. A. (October 1928). Simple Inductance Formulae for Radio Coils. Proc. I. R. E. 16
(10): 1398. doi:10.1109/JRPROC.1928.221309
6.11 External links

General
How stu works The initial concept, made very simple
Capacitance and Inductance A chapter from an online textbook
Spiral inductor models. Article on inductor characteristics and modeling.
Online coil inductance calculator. Online calculator calculates the inductance of conventional and
toroidal coils using formulas 3, 4, 5, and 6, above.
AC circuits
Understanding coils and transforms
Bowley, Roger (2009). Inductor. Sixty Symbols.
Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.
Inductors 101 Instructional Guide
Chapter 7
Diode
For data diodes, see Unidirectional network. For other unidirectional behavior is called rectication, and is used
uses, see Diodes (disambiguation).
to convert alternating current to direct current, includIn electronics, a diode is a two-terminal electronic ing extraction of modulation from radio signals in radio
receiversthese diodes are forms of rectiers.
However, diodes can have more complicated behavior
than this simple ono action, due to their nonlinear
current-voltage characteristics. Semiconductor diodes
begin conducting electricity only if a certain threshold
voltage or cut-in voltage is present in the forward direction (a state in which the diode is said to be forwardbiased). The voltage drop across a forward-biased diode
varies only a little with the current, and is a function of
temperature; this eect can be used as a temperature sensor or voltage reference.
Closeup of a diode, showing the square-shaped semiconductor

crystal (black object on left).
Semiconductor diodes currentvoltage characteristic can

be tailored by varying the semiconductor materials and
doping, introducing impurities into the materials. These
techniques are used to create special-purpose diodes that
perform many dierent functions. For example, diodes
are used to regulate voltage (Zener diodes), to protect circuits from high voltage surges (avalanche diodes), to electronically tune radio and TV receivers (varactor diodes),
to generate radio-frequency oscillations (tunnel diodes,
Gunn diodes, IMPATT diodes), and to produce light
(light-emitting diodes). Tunnel, Gunn and IMPATT
diodes exhibit negative resistance, which is useful in
microwave and switching circuits.
component with asymmetric conductance; it has low (ideally zero) resistance to current in one direction, and high
(ideally innite) resistance in the other. A semiconductor diode, the most common type today, is a crystalline
piece of semiconductor material with a pn junction connected to two electrical terminals.[5] A vacuum tube diode
has two electrodes, a plate (anode) and a heated cathode. Semiconductor diodes were the rst semiconductor
electronic devices. The discovery of crystals' rectifying
abilities was made by German physicist Ferdinand Braun 7.2 History
in 1874. The rst semiconductor diodes, called cats
whisker diodes, developed around 1906, were made of
mineral crystals such as galena. Today, most diodes Thermionic (vacuum tube) diodes and solid state (semiare made of silicon, but other semiconductors such as conductor) diodes were developed separately, at approximately the same time, in the early 1900s, as radio receiver
selenium or germanium are sometimes used.[6]
detectors. Until the 1950s vacuum tube diodes were more
often used in radios because the early point-contact type
semiconductor diodes (cats-whisker detectors) were less
7.1 Main functions
stable, and because most receiving sets had vacuum tubes
for amplication that could easily have diodes included
The most common function of a diode is to allow an elecin the tube (for example the 12SQ7 double diode triode),
tric current to pass in one direction (called the diodes and vacuum tube rectiers and gas-lled rectiers hanforward direction), while blocking current in the oppo- dled some high voltage/high current rectication tasks besite direction (the reverse direction). Thus, the diode can yond the capabilities of semiconductor diodes (such as
be viewed as an electronic version of a check valve. This selenium rectiers) available at the time.
64
7.2. HISTORY
65
Glass Envelope
Plate (anode)
Filament (cathode)
Structure of a vacuum tube diode. The lament may be bare, or

more commonly (as shown here), embedded within and insulated
from an enclosing cathode.
that the current ow was only possible in one direction.
Various semiconductor diodes. Bottom: A bridge rectier. In

most diodes, a white or black painted band identies the cathode
terminal, that is, the terminal that positive charge (conventional
current) will ow out of when the diode is conducting.[1][2][3][4]
Thomas Edison independently rediscovered the principle on February 13, 1880. At the time, Edison was investigating why the laments of his carbon-lament light
bulbs nearly always burned out at the positive-connected
end. He had a special bulb made with a metal plate sealed
into the glass envelope. Using this device, he conrmed
that an invisible current owed from the glowing lament
through the vacuum to the metal plate, but only when the
plate was connected to the positive supply.
Further information: Vacuum tube
Edison devised a circuit where his modied light bulb effectively replaced the resistor in a DC voltmeter. Edison
was awarded a patent for this invention in 1884.[9] Since
there was no apparent practical use for such a device at
the time, the patent application was most likely simply
a precaution in case someone else did nd a use for the
so-called Edison eect.
In 1873, Frederick Guthrie discovered the basic principle

of operation of thermionic diodes.[7][8] Guthrie discovered that a positively charged electroscope could be discharged by bringing a grounded piece of white-hot metal
close to it (but not actually touching it). The same did
not apply to a negatively charged electroscope, indicating
About 20 years later, John Ambrose Fleming (scientic

adviser to the Marconi Company and former Edison employee) realized that the Edison eect could be used as
a precision radio detector. Fleming patented the rst
true thermionic diode, the Fleming valve, in Britain on
November 16, 1904[10] (followed by U.S. Patent 803,684
in November 1905).
7.2.1
Vacuum tube diodes
66
7.2.2
CHAPTER 7. DIODE
Solid-state diodes
In 1874 German scientist Karl Ferdinand Braun discovered the unilateral conduction of crystals.[11][12] Braun
patented the crystal rectier in 1899.[13] Copper oxide
and selenium rectiers were developed for power applications in the 1930s.
Flyback diodes
7.3 Thermionic diodes
Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose was the rst to

use a crystal for detecting radio waves in 1894.[14] The
crystal detector was developed into a practical device for
wireless telegraphy by Greenleaf Whittier Pickard, who
invented a silicon crystal detector in 1903 and received
a patent for it on November 20, 1906.[15] Other experimenters tried a variety of other substances, of which the
most widely used was the mineral galena (lead sulde).
Other substances oered slightly better performance, but
galena was most widely used because it had the advantage
of being cheap and easy to obtain. The crystal detector
in these early crystal radio sets consisted of an adjustable
wire point-contact (the so-called cats whisker), which
could be manually moved over the face of the crystal in
order to obtain optimum signal. This troublesome device
was superseded by thermionic diodes by the 1920s, but
after high purity semiconductor materials became available, the crystal detector returned to dominant use with
the advent of inexpensive xed-germanium diodes in the
1950s. Bell Labs also developed a germanium diode for
microwave reception, and AT&T used these in their microwave towers that criss-crossed the nation starting in
the late 1940s, carrying telephone and network television signals. Bell Labs did not develop a satisfactory Diode vacuum tube construction
thermionic diode for microwave reception.
7.2.3
Glass tube
Anode
Heated
cathode
Heater
Etymology
At the time of their invention, such devices were known

as rectiers. In 1919, the year tetrodes were invented,
William Henry Eccles coined the term diode from the
Greek roots di (from ), meaning two, and ode (from
), meaning path. (However, the word diode itself,
as well as triode, tetrode, pentode, hexode, was already in
use as a term of multiplex telegraphy; see, for example,
The telegraphic journal and electrical review, September
10, 1886, p. 252).
Rectiers
Main article: Rectier
Although all diodes rectify, the term 'rectier' is normally
reserved for higher currents and voltages than would nor- The symbol for an indirect heated vacuum-tube diode. From top
mally be found in the rectication of lower power signals; to bottom, the components are the anode, the cathode, and the
examples include:
heater lament.
Power supply rectiers (half-wave, full-wave, A thermionic diode is a thermionic-valve device (also
bridge)
known as a vacuum tube, tube, or valve), consisting
7.4. SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES
67
of a sealed evacuated glass envelope containing two symbols for some types of diodes, though the dierences
electrodes: a cathode heated by a lament, and a plate are minor.
(anode). Early examples were fairly similar in appearance to incandescent light bulbs.
Diode
In operation, a separate current through the lament
Light Emitting Diode (LED)
(heater), a high resistance wire made of nichrome, heats
the cathode red hot (8001000 C), causing it to release
Photodiode
electrons into the vacuum, a process called thermionic
Schottky diode
emission. The cathode is coated with oxides of alkaline
earth metals such as barium and strontium oxides, which
Transient Voltage Suppression (TVS)
have a low work function, to increase the number of electrons emitted. (Some valves use direct heating, in which
Tunnel diode
a tungsten lament acts as both heater and cathode.) The
Varicap
alternating voltage to be rectied is applied between the
cathode and the concentric plate electrode. When the
Zener diode
plate has a positive voltage with respect to the cathode,
it electrostatically attracts the electrons from the cathode,
Typical diode packages in same alignment as diode
so a current of electrons ows through the tube from cathsymbol. Thin bar depicts the cathode.
ode to plate. However when the polarity is reversed and
the plate has a negative voltage, no current ows, because
the cathode electrons are not attracted to it. The unheated 7.4.2 Point-contact diodes
plate does not emit any electrons itself. So electrons can
only ow through the tube in one direction, from cathode A point-contact diode works the same as the junction
diodes described below, but their construction is simpler.
to plate.
A block of n-type semiconductor is built, and a conductIn a mercury-arc valve, an arc forms between a refracing sharp-point contact made with some group-3 metal
tory conductive anode and a pool of liquid mercury actis placed in contact with the semiconductor. Some metal
ing as cathode. Such units were made with ratings up to
migrates into the semiconductor to make a small region of
hundreds of kilowatts, and were important in the develp-type semiconductor near the contact. The long-popular
opment of HVDC power transmission. Some types of
1N34 germanium version is still used in radio receivers as
smaller thermionic rectiers sometimes had mercury vaa detector and occasionally in specialized analog electronpor ll to reduce their forward voltage drop and to inics.
crease current rating over thermionic hard-vacuum devices.
Throughout the vacuum tube era, valve diodes were used
in analog signal applications and as rectiers in DC power
supplies in consumer electronics such as radios, televisions, and sound systems. They were replaced in power
supplies beginning in the 1940s by selenium rectiers and
then by semiconductor diodes by the 1960s. Today they
are still used in a few high power applications where their
ability to withstand transients and their robustness gives
them an advantage over semiconductor devices. The recent (2012) resurgence of interest among audiophiles and
recording studios in old valve audio gear such as guitar
ampliers and home audio systems has provided a market for the legacy consumer diode valves.
7.4.3 Junction diodes

pn junction diode
Main article: pn diode
A pn junction diode is made of a crystal of

semiconductor, usually silicon, but germanium and
gallium arsenide are also used. Impurities are added to
it to create a region on one side that contains negative
charge carriers (electrons), called n-type semiconductor,
and a region on the other side that contains positive charge
carriers (holes), called p-type semiconductor. When two
materials i.e. n-type and p-type are attached together, a
momentary ow of electrons occur from n to p side resulting in a third region where no charge carriers are present.
7.4 Semiconductor diodes
This region is called the depletion region due to the absence of charge carriers (electrons and holes in this case).
7.4.1 Electronic symbols
The diodes terminals are attached to the n-type and ptype regions. The boundary between these two regions,
called a pn junction, is where the action of the diode
takes place. The crystal allows electrons to ow from the
The symbol used for a semiconductor diode in a circuit N-type side (called the cathode) to the P-type side (called
diagram species the type of diode. There are alternative the anode), but not in the opposite direction.
68
CHAPTER 7. DIODE
Schottky diode
continues to act as an insulator, preventing any signicant

electric current ow (unless electronhole pairs are actively being created in the junction by, for instance, light;
Main article: Schottky diode
see photodiode). This is the reverse bias phenomenon.
However, if the polarity of the external voltage opposes
Another type of junction diode, the Schottky diode, is
the built-in potential, recombination can once again proformed from a metalsemiconductor junction rather than
ceed, resulting in substantial electric current through the
a pn junction, which reduces capacitance and increases
pn junction (i.e. substantial numbers of electrons and
switching speed.
holes recombine at the junction). For silicon diodes, the
built-in potential is approximately 0.7 V (0.3 V for germanium and 0.2 V for Schottky). Thus, if an external
7.4.4 Currentvoltage characteristic
current passes through the diode, the voltage across the
diode increases logarithmic with the current such that the
P-doped region is positive with respect to the N-doped
region and the diode is said to be turned on as it has
a forward bias. The diode is commonly said to have a
forward threshold voltage, which it conducts above and
is cuto below. However, this is only an approximation
as the forward characteristic is according to the Shockley
equation absolutely smooth (see graph below).
A diodes IV characteristic can be approximated by four
regions of operation:
IV (current vs. voltage) characteristics of a pn junction diode
A semiconductor diodes behavior in a circuit is given

by its currentvoltage characteristic, or IV graph (see
graph below). The shape of the curve is determined
by the transport of charge carriers through the so-called
depletion layer or depletion region that exists at the pn
junction between diering semiconductors. When a pn
junction is rst created, conduction-band (mobile) electrons from the N-doped region diuse into the P-doped
region where there is a large population of holes (vacant places for electrons) with which the electrons recombine. When a mobile electron recombines with a
hole, both hole and electron vanish, leaving behind an immobile positively charged donor (dopant) on the N side
and negatively charged acceptor (dopant) on the P side.
The region around the pn junction becomes depleted of
charge carriers and thus behaves as an insulator.
However, the width of the depletion region (called the
depletion width) cannot grow without limit. For each
electronhole pair that recombines, a positively charged
dopant ion is left behind in the N-doped region, and a
negatively charged dopant ion is left behind in the Pdoped region. As recombination proceeds more ions are
created, an increasing electric eld develops through the
depletion zone that acts to slow and then nally stop recombination. At this point, there is a built-in potential
across the depletion zone.
If an external voltage is placed across the diode with the
same polarity as the built-in potential, the depletion zone
1. At very large reverse bias, beyond the peak inverse

voltage or PIV, a process called reverse breakdown
occurs that causes a large increase in current (i.e.,
a large number of electrons and holes are created at, and move away from the pn junction)
that usually damages the device permanently. The
avalanche diode is deliberately designed for use in
the avalanche region. In the Zener diode, the concept of PIV is not applicable. A Zener diode contains a heavily doped pn junction allowing electrons to tunnel from the valence band of the p-type
material to the conduction band of the n-type material, such that the reverse voltage is clamped
to a known value (called the Zener voltage), and
avalanche does not occur. Both devices, however,
do have a limit to the maximum current and power in
the clamped reverse-voltage region. Also, following
the end of forward conduction in any diode, there
is reverse current for a short time. The device does
not attain its full blocking capability until the reverse
current ceases.
2. At reverse biases more positive than the PIV, has
only a very small reverse saturation current. In the
reverse bias region for a normal PN rectier diode,
the current through the device is very low (in the
A range). However, this is temperature dependent,
and at suciently high temperatures, a substantial
amount of reverse current can be observed (mA or
more).
3. With a small forward bias, where only a small forward current is conducted, the currentvoltage curve
is exponential in accordance with the ideal diode
equation. There is a denite forward voltage at
7.4. SEMICONDUCTOR DIODES
69
which the diode starts to conduct signicantly. This

the charge carriers cross the depletion region.
is called the knee voltage or cut-in voltage and is
By setting n = 1 above, the equation reduces to
equal to the barrier potential of the p-n junction.
the Shockley ideal diode equation.
This is a feature of the exponential curve, and is
seen more prominently on a current scale more comThe thermal voltage VT is approximately 25.85 mV at
pressed than in the diagram here.
300 K, a temperature close to room temperature com4. At larger forward currents the current-voltage curve monly used in device simulation software. At any temstarts to be dominated by the ohmic resistance of the perature it is a known constant dened by:
bulk semiconductor. The curve is no longer exponential, it is asymptotic to a straight line whose slope
is the bulk resistance. This region is particularly im- V = kT ,
T
q
portant for power diodes. The eect can be modeled
as an ideal diode in series with a xed resistor.
where k is the Boltzmann constant, T is the absolute temIn a small silicon diode at rated currents, the voltage drop perature of the pn junction, and q is the magnitude of
is about 0.6 to 0.7 volts. The value is dierent for other charge of an electron (the elementary charge).
diode typesSchottky diodes can be rated as low as 0.2
V, germanium diodes 0.25 to 0.3 V, and red or blue lightemitting diodes (LEDs) can have values of 1.4 V and 4.0
V respectively.
The reverse saturation current, IS, is not constant for a

given device, but varies with temperature; usually more
signicantly than VT, so that VD typically decreases as T
increases.
At higher currents the forward voltage drop of the diode The Shockley ideal diode equation or the diode law is deincreases. A drop of 1 V to 1.5 V is typical at full rated rived with the assumption that the only processes giving
current for power diodes.
rise to the current in the diode are drift (due to electrical
eld), diusion, and thermal recombinationgeneration
(RG) (this equation is derived by setting n = 1 above). It
7.4.5 Shockley diode equation
also assumes that the RG current in the depletion region
is insignicant. This means that the Shockley ideal diode
The Shockley ideal diode equation or the diode law equation doesn't account for the processes involved in re(named after transistor co-inventor William Bradford verse breakdown and photon-assisted RG. Additionally,
Shockley) gives the IV characteristic of an ideal diode in it doesn't describe the leveling o of the IV curve at
either forward or reverse bias (or no bias). The following high forward bias due to internal resistance. Introducequation is called the Shockley ideal diode equation when ing the ideality factor, n, accounts for recombination and
n, the ideality factor, is set equal to 1 :
generation of carriers.
(
I = IS e
VD /(nVT )
)
1 ,
where
I is the diode current,
IS is the reverse bias saturation current (or
scale current),
Under reverse bias voltages the exponential in the diode

equation is negligible, and the current is a constant (negative) reverse current value of IS. The reverse breakdown
region is not modeled by the Shockley diode equation.
For even rather small forward bias voltages the exponential is very large, since the thermal voltage is very small
in comparison. The subtracted '1' in the diode equation
is then negligible and the forward diode current can be
approximated by
VD is the voltage across the diode,

VT is the thermal voltage, and
n is the ideality factor, also known as the quality
factor or sometimes emission coecient. The
ideality factor n typically varies from 1 to 2
(though can in some cases be higher), depending on the fabrication process and semiconductor material and in many cases is assumed to
be approximately equal to 1 (thus the notation
n is omitted). The ideality factor does not form
part of the Shockley ideal diode equation, and
was added to account for imperfect junctions
as observed in real transistors. The factor is
mainly accounting for carrier recombination as
I = IS eVD /(nVT )
The use of the diode equation in circuit problems is illustrated in the article on diode modeling.
7.4.6 Small-signal behavior

For circuit design, a small-signal model of the diode behavior often proves useful. A specic example of diode
modeling is discussed in the article on small-signal circuits.
70
7.4.7
CHAPTER 7. DIODE
Reverse-recovery eect
Following the end of forward conduction in a pn type

diode, a reverse current can ow for a short time. The
device does not attain its blocking capability until the mobile charge in the junction is depleted.
The eect can be signicant when switching large currents very quickly.[16] A certain amount of reverse recovery time t (on the order of tens of nanoseconds to a
few microseconds) may be required to remove the reverse
recovery charge Q from the diode. During this recovery
time, the diode can actually conduct in the reverse direction. This might give rise to a large constant current in
the reverse direction for a short period of time and while
the diode is reverse biased. The magnitude of such reverse current is determined by the operating circuit (i.e.,
the series resistance) and the diode is called to be in the
storage-phase.[17] In certain real-world cases it can be important to consider the losses incurred by this non-ideal
diode eect.[18] However, when the slew rate of the current is not so severe (e.g. Line frequency) the eect can
be safely ignored. For most applications, the eect is also
negligible for Schottky diodes.
A
D
The reverse current ceases abruptly when the stored

charge is depleted; this abrupt stop is exploited in step
recovery diodes for generation of extremely short pulses.
7.5 Types of semiconductor diode
A
C
Typical datasheet drawing showing the dimensions of a DO-41
diode package
electrodes, are just an application of a diode in a special

circuit, or are really dierent devices like the Gunn and
laser diode and the MOSFET:
Normal (pn) diodes, which operate as described above,
are usually made of doped silicon or, more rarely,
There are several types of pn junction diodes, which em- germanium. Before the development of silicon power
phasize either a dierent physical aspect of a diode of- rectier diodes, cuprous oxide and later selenium was
ten by geometric scaling, doping level, choosing the right used; its low eciency gave it a much higher forward
Several types of diodes. The scale is centimeters.
7.5. TYPES OF SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE

voltage drop (typically 1.4 to 1.7 V per cell, with multiple cells stacked to increase the peak inverse voltage rating in high voltage rectiers), and required a large heat
sink (often an extension of the diodes metal substrate),
much larger than a silicon diode of the same current ratings would require. The vast majority of all diodes are the
pn diodes found in CMOS integrated circuits, which include two diodes per pin and many other internal diodes.
Avalanche diodes
These are diodes that conduct in the reverse direction when the reverse bias voltage exceeds
the breakdown voltage. These are electrically
very similar to Zener diodes (and are often mistakenly called Zener diodes), but break down
by a dierent mechanism: the avalanche effect. This occurs when the reverse electric eld
across the pn junction causes a wave of ionization, reminiscent of an avalanche, leading to
a large current. Avalanche diodes are designed
to break down at a well-dened reverse voltage without being destroyed. The dierence
between the avalanche diode (which has a reverse breakdown above about 6.2 V) and the
Zener is that the channel length of the former
exceeds the mean free path of the electrons, so
there are collisions between them on the way
out. The only practical dierence is that the
two types have temperature coecients of opposite polarities.
Cats whisker or crystal diodes
These are a type of point-contact diode. The
cats whisker diode consists of a thin or sharpened metal wire pressed against a semiconducting crystal, typically galena or a piece of coal.
The wire forms the anode and the crystal forms
the cathode. Cats whisker diodes were also
called crystal diodes and found application in
crystal radio receivers. Cats whisker diodes
are generally obsolete, but may be available
from a few manufacturers.
Constant current diodes
These are actually JFETs[19] with the gate
shorted to the source, and function like a twoterminal current-limiting analog to the voltagelimiting Zener diode. They allow a current
through them to rise to a certain value, and then
level o at a specic value. Also called CLDs,
constant-current diodes, diode-connected transistors, or current-regulating diodes.
Esaki or tunnel diodes
71
These have a region of operation showing
negative resistance caused by quantum tunneling,[20] allowing amplication of signals and
very simple bistable circuits. Due to the high
carrier concentration, tunnel diodes are very
fast, may be used at low (mK) temperatures,
high magnetic elds, and in high radiation
environments.[21] Because of these properties,
they are often used in spacecraft.
Gunn diodes
These are similar to tunnel diodes in that they
are made of materials such as GaAs or InP
that exhibit a region of negative dierential resistance. With appropriate biasing, dipole domains form and travel across the diode, allowing high frequency microwave oscillators to be
built.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
In a diode formed from a direct band-gap
semiconductor, such as gallium arsenide, carriers that cross the junction emit photons when
they recombine with the majority carrier on
the other side. Depending on the material,
wavelengths (or colors)[22] from the infrared
to the near ultraviolet may be produced.[23]
The forward potential of these diodes depends on the wavelength of the emitted photons: 2.1 V corresponds to red, 4.0 V to violet. The rst LEDs were red and yellow,
and higher-frequency diodes have been developed over time. All LEDs produce incoherent, narrow-spectrum light; white LEDs are
actually combinations of three LEDs of a different color, or a blue LED with a yellow
scintillator coating. LEDs can also be used
as low-eciency photodiodes in signal applications. An LED may be paired with a photodiode or phototransistor in the same package,
to form an opto-isolator.
Laser diodes
When an LED-like structure is contained in a
resonant cavity formed by polishing the parallel
end faces, a laser can be formed. Laser diodes
are commonly used in optical storage devices
and for high speed optical communication.
Thermal diodes
This term is used both for conventional p
n diodes used to monitor temperature due
72
CHAPTER 7. DIODE
to their varying forward voltage with temperature, and for Peltier heat pumps for
thermoelectric heating and cooling. Peltier
heat pumps may be made from semiconductor, though they do not have any rectifying
junctions, they use the diering behaviour of
charge carriers in N and P type semiconductor
to move heat.
Photodiodes
All semiconductors are subject to optical
charge carrier generation.
This is typically an undesired eect, so most semiconductors are packaged in light blocking material. Photodiodes are intended to sense
light(photodetector), so they are packaged in
materials that allow light to pass, and are usually PIN (the kind of diode most sensitive to
light).[24] A photodiode can be used in solar
cells, in photometry, or in optical communications. Multiple photodiodes may be packaged
in a single device, either as a linear array or as
a two-dimensional array. These arrays should
not be confused with charge-coupled devices.
PIN diodes
A PIN diode has a central un-doped, or intrinsic, layer, forming a p-type/intrinsic/n-type
structure.[25] They are used as radio frequency
switches and attenuators. They are also used
as large-volume, ionizing-radiation detectors
and as photodetectors. PIN diodes are also
used in power electronics, as their central layer
can withstand high voltages. Furthermore, the
PIN structure can be found in many power
semiconductor devices, such as IGBTs, power
MOSFETs, and thyristors.
Schottky diodes
Schottky diodes are constructed from a metal
to semiconductor contact. They have a lower
forward voltage drop than pn junction diodes.
Their forward voltage drop at forward currents of about 1 mA is in the range 0.15 V
to 0.45 V, which makes them useful in voltage clamping applications and prevention of
transistor saturation. They can also be used as
low loss rectiers, although their reverse leakage current is in general higher than that of
other diodes. Schottky diodes are majority
carrier devices and so do not suer from minority carrier storage problems that slow down
many other diodesso they have a faster reverse recovery than pn junction diodes. They
also tend to have much lower junction capacitance than pn diodes, which provides for high
switching speeds and their use in high-speed
circuitry and RF devices such as switchedmode power supply, mixers, and detectors.
Super barrier diodes
Super barrier diodes are rectier diodes that incorporate the low forward voltage drop of the
Schottky diode with the surge-handling capability and low reverse leakage current of a normal pn junction diode.
Gold-doped diodes
As a dopant, gold (or platinum) acts as recombination centers, which helps a fast recombination of minority carriers. This allows the diode
to operate at signal frequencies, at the expense
of a higher forward voltage drop. Gold-doped
diodes are faster than other pn diodes (but not
as fast as Schottky diodes). They also have less
reverse-current leakage than Schottky diodes
(but not as good as other pn diodes).[26][27] A
typical example is the 1N914.
Snap-o or Step recovery diodes
The term step recovery relates to the form of
the reverse recovery characteristic of these devices. After a forward current has been passing
in an SRD and the current is interrupted or reversed, the reverse conduction will cease very
abruptly (as in a step waveform). SRDs can,
therefore, provide very fast voltage transitions
by the very sudden disappearance of the charge
carriers.
Stabistors or Forward Reference Diodes
The term stabistor refers to a special type of
diodes featuring extremely stable forward voltage characteristics. These devices are specially designed for low-voltage stabilization applications requiring a guaranteed voltage over a
wide current range and highly stable over temperature.
Transient voltage suppression diode (TVS)
These are avalanche diodes designed specically to protect other semiconductor devices
from high-voltage transients.[28] Their pn
junctions have a much larger cross-sectional
area than those of a normal diode, allowing
them to conduct large currents to ground without sustaining damage.
7.7. RELATED DEVICES
73
Varicap or varactor diodes
have a 1-prex designation (e.g., 1N4003). Among

the most popular in this series were: 1N34A/1N270
(germanium signal), 1N914/1N4148 (silicon signal),
1N40011N4007 (silicon 1A power rectier) and
1N54xx (silicon 3A power rectier)[29][30][31]
These are used as voltage-controlled

capacitors. These are important in PLL
(phase-locked loop) and FLL (frequencylocked loop) circuits, allowing tuning circuits,
such as those in television receivers, to lock
quickly. They also enabled tunable oscillators
in early discrete tuning of radios, where a
cheap and stable, but xed-frequency, crystal
oscillator provided the reference frequency for
a voltage-controlled oscillator.
These can be made to conduct in reverse bias

(backward), and are correctly termed reverse
breakdown diodes. This eect, called Zener
breakdown, occurs at a precisely dened voltage, allowing the diode to be used as a precision
voltage reference. The term Zener diode is colloquially applied to several types of breakdown
diodes, but strictly speaking Zener diodes have
a breakdown voltage of below 5 volts, whilst
those above that value are usually avalanche
diodes. In practical voltage reference circuits,
Zener and switching diodes are connected in
series and opposite directions to balance the
temperature coecient to near-zero. Some devices labeled as high-voltage Zener diodes are
actually avalanche diodes (see above). Two
(equivalent) Zeners in series and in reverse order, in the same package, constitute a transient
absorber (or Transorb, a registered trademark).
The Zener diode is named for Dr. Clarence
Melvin Zener of Carnegie Mellon University,
inventor of the device.
Other uses for semiconductor diodes include sensing
temperature, and computing analog logarithms (see
Operational amplier applications#Logarithmic output).
and
coding
There are a number of common, standard and

manufacturer-driven numbering and coding schemes for
diodes; the two most common being the EIA/JEDEC
standard and the European Pro Electron standard:
7.6.1
The JIS semiconductor designation system has all semiconductor diode designations starting with 1S.
7.6.3 Pro Electron
Zener diodes
7.6 Numbering
schemes
7.6.2 JIS
EIA/JEDEC
The standardized 1N-series numbering EIA370 system

was introduced in the US by EIA/JEDEC (Joint Electron
Device Engineering Council) about 1960. Most diodes
The European Pro Electron coding system for active components was introduced in 1966 and comprises two letters
followed by the part code. The rst letter represents the
semiconductor material used for the component (A = germanium and B = silicon) and the second letter represents
the general function of the part (for diodes: A = lowpower/signal, B = variable capacitance, X = multiplier, Y
= rectier and Z = voltage reference), for example:
AA-series germanium low-power/signal diodes
(e.g.: AA119)
BA-series silicon low-power/signal diodes (e.g.:
BAT18 silicon RF switching diode)
BY-series silicon rectier diodes (e.g.:
1250V, 1A rectier diode)
BY127
BZ-series silicon Zener diodes (e.g.: BZY88C4V7

4.7V Zener diode)
Other common numbering / coding systems (generally
manufacturer-driven) include:
GD-series germanium diodes (e.g.: GD9) this is a
very old coding system
OA-series germanium diodes (e.g.: OA47) a
coding sequence developed by Mullard, a UK company
As well as these common codes, many manufacturers or
organisations have their own systems too for example:
HP diode 1901-0044 = JEDEC 1N4148
UK military diode CV448 = Mullard type OA81 =
GEC type GEX23
7.7 Related devices

Rectier
Transistor
74
CHAPTER 7. DIODE
Thyristor or silicon controlled rectier (SCR)
are usually reverse-biased (non-conducting) under normal

circumstances. When the voltage rises above the normal
TRIAC
range, the diodes become forward-biased (conducting).
For example, diodes are used in (stepper motor and H DIAC
bridge) motor controller and relay circuits to de-energize
coils rapidly without the damaging voltage spikes that
Varistor
would otherwise occur. (Any diode used in such an apIn optics, an equivalent device for the diode but with laser plication is called a yback diode). Many integrated cirlight would be the Optical isolator, also known as an Op- cuits also incorporate diodes on the connection pins to
tical Diode, that allows light to only pass in one direction. prevent external voltages from damaging their sensitive
transistors. Specialized diodes are used to protect from
It uses a Faraday rotator as the main component.
over-voltages at higher power (see Diode types above).
7.8 Applications
7.8.1
Radio demodulation
The rst use for the diode was the demodulation of

amplitude modulated (AM) radio broadcasts. The history of this discovery is treated in depth in the radio article. In summary, an AM signal consists of alternating
positive and negative peaks of a radio carrier wave, whose
amplitude or envelope is proportional to the original audio signal. The diode (originally a crystal diode) recties
the AM radio frequency signal, leaving only the positive
peaks of the carrier wave. The audio is then extracted
from the rectied carrier wave using a simple lter and
fed into an audio amplier or transducer, which generates sound waves.
7.8.2
Power conversion
Main article: Rectier

Rectiers are constructed from diodes, where they
Schematic of basic AC-to-DC power supply
are used to convert alternating current (AC) electricity into direct current (DC). Automotive alternators are
a common example, where the diode, which recties
the AC into DC, provides better performance than the
commutator or earlier, dynamo. Similarly, diodes are
also used in CockcroftWalton voltage multipliers to convert AC into higher DC voltages.
7.8.3
Over-voltage protection
7.8.4 Logic gates

Diodes can be combined with other components to construct AND and OR logic gates. This is referred to as
diode logic.
7.8.5 Ionizing radiation detectors

In addition to light, mentioned above, semiconductor
diodes are sensitive to more energetic radiation. In
electronics, cosmic rays and other sources of ionizing radiation cause noise pulses and single and multiple bit errors. This eect is sometimes exploited by particle detectors to detect radiation. A single particle of radiation, with thousands or millions of electron volts of energy, generates many charge carrier pairs, as its energy
is deposited in the semiconductor material. If the depletion layer is large enough to catch the whole shower or
to stop a heavy particle, a fairly accurate measurement
of the particles energy can be made, simply by measuring the charge conducted and without the complexity of
a magnetic spectrometer, etc. These semiconductor radiation detectors need ecient and uniform charge collection and low leakage current. They are often cooled
by liquid nitrogen. For longer-range (about a centimetre) particles, they need a very large depletion depth and
large area. For short-range particles, they need any contact or un-depleted semiconductor on at least one surface
to be very thin. The back-bias voltages are near breakdown (around a thousand volts per centimetre). Germanium and silicon are common materials. Some of these
detectors sense position as well as energy. They have a
nite life, especially when detecting heavy particles, because of radiation damage. Silicon and germanium are
quite dierent in their ability to convert gamma rays to
electron showers.
Semiconductor detectors for high-energy particles are

used in large numbers. Because of energy loss uctuaDiodes are frequently used to conduct damaging high tions, accurate measurement of the energy deposited is
voltages away from sensitive electronic devices. They of less use.
7.9. ABBREVIATIONS
7.8.6
Temperature measurements
75
7.8.9 Clamper
A diode can be used as a temperature measuring device, Main article: Clamper (electronics)
since the forward voltage drop across the diode depends A diode clamp circuit can take a periodic alternating curon temperature, as in a silicon bandgap temperature sensor. From the Shockley ideal diode equation given above,
it might appear that the voltage has a positive temperature
coecient (at a constant current), but usually the variation of the reverse saturation current term is more signicant than the variation in the thermal voltage term.
Most diodes therefore have a negative temperature coefcient, typically 2 mV/C for silicon diodes. The temperature coecient is approximately constant for temperatures above about 20 kelvins. Some graphs are given
for 1N400x series,[32] and CY7 cryogenic temperature
sensor.[33]
7.8.7
Current steering
Diodes will prevent currents in unintended directions. To

supply power to an electrical circuit during a power failure, the circuit can draw current from a battery. An
uninterruptible power supply may use diodes in this way
to ensure that current is only drawn from the battery when
necessary. Likewise, small boats typically have two circuits each with their own battery/batteries: one used for
engine starting; one used for domestics. Normally, both
are charged from a single alternator, and a heavy-duty
split-charge diode is used to prevent the higher-charge
battery (typically the engine battery) from discharging
through the lower-charge battery when the alternator is
not running.
Diodes are also used in electronic musical keyboards. To
reduce the amount of wiring needed in electronic musical keyboards, these instruments often use keyboard matrix circuits. The keyboard controller scans the rows and
columns to determine which note the player has pressed.
The problem with matrix circuits is that, when several
notes are pressed at once, the current can ow backwards
through the circuit and trigger "phantom keys" that cause
ghost notes to play. To avoid triggering unwanted notes,
most keyboard matrix circuits have diodes soldered with
the switch under each key of the musical keyboard. The
same principle is also used for the switch matrix in solidstate pinball machines.
This simple diode clamp will clamp the negative peaks of the incoming waveform to the common rail voltage
rent signal that oscillates between positive and negative

values, and vertically displace it such that either the positive, or the negative peaks occur at a prescribed level.
The clamper does not restrict the peak-to-peak excursion
of the signal, it moves the whole signal up or down so as
to place the peaks at the reference level.
7.9 Abbreviations
Diodes are usually referred to as D for diode on PCBs.
Sometimes the abbreviation CR for crystal rectier is
used.[34]
7.10 See also

Active rectication
Diode modelling
Junction diode
Lambda diode
pn junction
Small-signal model
7.11 References
7.8.8
Waveform Clipper
Main article: Clipper (electronics)
[1] Tooley, Mike (2012). Electronic Circuits: Fundamentals

and Applications, 3rd Ed. Routlege. p. 81. ISBN 1-13640731-6.
Diodes can be used to limit the positive or negative excursion of a signal to a prescribed voltage.
[2] Lowe, Doug (2013). Electronics Components: Diodes.

Electronics All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies. John
Wiley & Sons. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
76
CHAPTER 7. DIODE
[3] Crecraft, David; Stephen Gergely (2002).

Analog
Electronics: Circuits, Systems and Signal Processing.
Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 110. ISBN 0-7506-5095-8.
[4] Horowitz, Paul; Wineld Hill (1989). The Art of Electronics, 2nd Ed. London: Cambridge University Press. p. 44.
ISBN 0-521-37095-7.
[22] Classication of components. Digikey.com (2009-0527). Retrieved 2013-12-19.

[23] Component Construction.
2010-08-06.
2010-05-25.
Retrieved
[24] Component Construction. Digikey.com (2009-05-27).

[5] Physical Explanation General Semiconductors. 201005-25. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
[25] Physics and Technology. 2010-05-25. Retrieved 201008-06.
[6] The Constituents of Semiconductor Components.

2010-05-25. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
[26] Fast Recovery Epitaxial Diodes (FRED) Characteristics

Applications Examples. (PDF). Retrieved 2013-12-19.
[7] Guthrie, Frederick (October 1873) On a relation between

heat and static electricity, The London, Edinburgh and
Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 4th
series, 46 : 257266.
[27] Sze, S. M. (1998) Modern Semiconductor Device Physics,

Wiley Interscience, ISBN 0-471-15237-4
[8] 1928 Nobel Lecture: Owen W. Richardson, Thermionic

phenomena and the laws which govern them, December
12, 1929
[9] Edison, Thomas A. Electrical Meter U.S. Patent
307,030 Issue date: Oct 21, 1884
[10] Road to the Transistor.
2008-09-22.
Jmargolin.com.
Retrieved
[11] Braun, Ferdinand (1874) Ueber die Stromleitung durch

Schwefelmetalle (On current conduction in metal sulphides), Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 153 : 556563.
[28] Protecting Low Current Loads in Harsh Electrical Environments. Digikey.com (2009-05-27). Retrieved 201312-19.
[29] About JEDEC. Jedec.org. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
[30] Introduction dates of common transistors and diodes?".
EDAboard.com. 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
[31] I.D.E.A. Transistor Museum Construction Projects Point
Contact Germanium Western Electric Vintage Historic
Semiconductors Photos Alloy Junction Oral History.
Semiconductormuseum.com. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
[32] 1N400x Diode Family Forward Voltage. Cliftonlaboratories.com. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
[12] Karl Ferdinand Braun. chem.ch.huji.ac.il
[33] Cryogenic Temperature Sensors. omega.com
[13] Diode. Encyclobeamia.solarbotics.net.
[34] John Ambrose Fleming (1919). The Principles of Electric Wave Telegraphy and Telephony. London: Longmans,
Green. p. 550.
[14] Sarkar, Tapan K. (2006). History of wireless. USA: John

Wiley and Sons. pp. 94, 291308. ISBN 0-471-71814-9.
[15] Pickard, Greenleaf Whittier Means for receiving intelligence communicated by electric waves U.S. Patent
836,531 Issued: August 30, 1906
[16] Diode reverse recovery in a boost converter. ECEN5817.
ecee.colorado.edu
[17] Elhami Khorasani, A.; Griswold, M.; Alford, T. L.
(2014). Gate-Controlled Reverse Recovery for Characterization of LDMOS Body Diode. IEEE Electron Device
Letters 35 (11): 1079. doi:10.1109/LED.2014.2353301.
7.12 External links

Diodes and Rectiers Chapter on All About Circuits
Structure and Functional Behavior of PIN Diodes
PowerGuru
Interactive and animations
[18] Inclusion of Switching Loss in the Averaged Equivalent

Circuit Model. ECEN5797. ecee.colorado.edu
Interactive Explanation of Semiconductor Diode,

University of Cambridge
[19] Current regulator diodes.

Schottky Diode Flash Tutorial Animation
Digikey.com (2009-05-27).
[20] Jonscher, A. K. (1961). The physics of the tunnel

diode. British Journal of Applied Physics 12 (12):
654. Bibcode:1961BJAP...12..654J. doi:10.1088/05083443/12/12/304.
[21] Dowdey, J. E., and Travis, C. M. (1964).
An
Analysis of Steady-State Nuclear Radiation Damage
of Tunnel Diodes. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear
Science 11 (5): 55. Bibcode:1964ITNS...11...55D.
doi:10.1109/TNS2.1964.4315475.
Datasheets
Discrete Databook (Historical 1978), National
Semiconductor (now Texas Instruments)
Discrete Databook (Historical 1982), SGS (now
STMicroelectronics)
Discrete Databook (Historical 1985), Fairchild
Chapter 8
Wire
For other uses, see Wire (disambiguation).
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, exible strand or
Wires overhead
rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads or

electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a
die or draw plate. Wire gauges come in various standard
sizes, as expressed in terms of a gauge number. The term
wire is also used more loosely to refer to a bundle of
such strands, as in 'multistranded wire', which is more
correctly termed a wire rope in mechanics, or a cable in Wire wrapped jewelry
electricity.
Wire comes in solid core, stranded, or braided forms.
Although usually circular in cross-section, wire can be
made in square, hexagonal, attened rectangular, or other
cross-sections, either for decorative purposes, or for
technical purposes such as high-eciency voice coils in
loudspeakers. Edge-wound[1] coil springs, such as the
Slinky toy, are made of special attened wire.
This causes the strips to fold round on themselves to form

thin tubes. This strip drawing technique was in use in
Egypt by the 2nd Dynasty. From the middle of the 2nd
millennium BC most of the gold wires in jewellery are
characterised by seam lines that follow a spiral path along
the wire. Such twisted strips can be converted into solid
round wires by rolling them between at surfaces or the
strip wire drawing method. The strip twist wire manufacturing method was superseded by drawing in the ancient
Old World sometime between about the 8th and 10th cen8.1 History
turies AD.[2] There is some evidence for the use of draw[3]
In antiquity, jewelry often contains, in the form of chains ing further East prior to this period.
and applied decoration, large amounts of wire that is ac- Square and hexagonal wires were possibly made using a
curately made and which must have been produced by swaging technique. In this method a metal rod was struck
some ecient, if not technically advanced, means. In between grooved metal blocks, or between a grooved
some cases, strips cut from metal sheet were made into punch and a grooved metal anvil. Swaging is of great anwire by pulling them through perforations in stone beads. tiquity, possibly dating to the beginning of the 2nd mil77
78
CHAPTER 8. WIRE
lennium BC in Egypt and in the Bronze and Iron Ages in fencing, and much is consumed in the construction of
Europe for torcs and bulae.
suspension bridges, and cages, etc. In the manufacture
Twisted square section wires are a very common ligree of stringed musical instruments and scientic instruments
wire is again largely used. Carbon and stainless spring
decoration in early Etruscan jewellery.
steel wire have signicant applications for engineered
In about the middle of the 2nd millennium BC a new cat- springs for critical automotive or industrial manufactured
egory of decorative tube was introduced which imitated a parts/components. Among its other sources of consumpline of granules. True beaded wire, produced by mechan- tion it is sucient to mention pin and hairpin making, the
ically distorting a round-section wire, appeared in the needle and sh-hook industries, nail, peg and rivet makEastern Mediterranean and Italy in the seventh century ing, and carding machinery; indeed there are few indusBC, perhaps disseminated by the Phoenicians. Beaded tries into which it does not enter.
wire continued to be used in jewellery into modern times,
although it largely fell out of favour in about the tenth cen- Not all metals and metallic alloys possess the physical
tury AD when two drawn round wires, twisted together properties necessary to make useful wire. The metals
to form what are termed 'ropes, provided a simpler-to- must in the rst place be ductile and strong in tension, the
make alternative. A forerunner to beaded wire may be quality on which the utility of wire principally depends.
the notched strips and wires which rst occur from around The metals suitable for wire, possessing almost equal ductility, are platinum, silver, iron, copper, aluminium and
2000 BC in Anatolia.
gold; and it is only from these and certain of their alloys
Wire was drawn in England from the medieval period. with other metals, principally brass and bronze, that wire
The wire was used to make wool cards and pins, manu- is prepared (For a detailed discussion on copper wire, see
factured goods whose import was prohibited by Edward main article: Copper wire and cable.).
IV in 1463.[4] The rst wire mill in Great Britain was
By careful treatment extremely thin wire can be proestablished at Tintern in about 1568 by the founders of
the Company of Mineral and Battery Works, who had a duced. Special purpose wire is however made from other
metals (e.g. tungsten wire for light bulb and vacuum tube
monopoly on this.[5] Apart from their second wire mill
at nearby Whitebrook,[6] there were no other wire mills laments, because of its high melting temperature). Copper wires are also plated with other metals, such as tin,
before the second half of the 17th century. Despite the
existence of mills, the drawing of wire down to ne sizes nickel, and silver to handle dierent temperatures, provide lubrication, provide easier stripping of rubber from
continued to be done manually.
copper.
Wire is usually drawn of cylindrical form; but it may be
made of any desired section by varying the outline of the
holes in the draw-plate through which it is passed in the
8.3 Production
process of manufacture. The draw-plate or die is a piece
of hard cast-iron or hard steel, or for ne work it may
be a diamond or a ruby. The object of utilising precious
stones is to enable the dies to be used for a considerable
period without losing their size, and so producing wire of
incorrect diameter. Diamond dies must be rebored when
they have lost their original diameter of hole, but metal
dies are brought down to size again by hammering up the
hole and then drifting it out to correct diameter with a
punch.
8.2 Uses
Wire has many uses. It forms the raw material of many
important manufacturers, such as the wire netting industry, engineered springs, wire-cloth making and wire rope
spinning, in which it occupies a place analogous to a
textile ber. Wire-cloth of all degrees of strength and
neness of mesh is used for sifting and screening machinery, for draining paper pulp, for window screens, and
for many other purposes. Vast quantities of aluminium,
copper, nickel and steel wire are employed for telephone
and data cables, and as conductors in electric power
transmission, and heating. It is in no less demand for
Wire mill (1913)
Main article: Wire drawing

Wire is often reduced to the desired diameter and properties by repeated drawing through progressively smaller
dies, or traditionally holes in draw plates. After a number of passes the wire may be annealed to facilitate more
8.5. FORMS OF WIRE
79
drawing or, if it is a nished product, to maximise ductil- which rotates on rollers below. The various strands comity and conductivity.
ing from the spools at various parts of the circumference
of the cage all lead to a disk at the end of the hollow
shaft. This disk has perforations through which each of
8.4 Finishing, jacketing, and insu- the strands pass, thence being immediately wrapped on
the cable, which slides through a bearing at this point.
lating
Toothed gears having certain denite ratios are used to
cause the winding drum for the cable and the cage for the
Electrical wires are usually covered with insulating ma- spools to rotate at suitable relative speeds which do not
terials, such as plastic, rubber-like polymers, or varnish. vary. The cages are multiplied for stranding with a large
Insulating and jacketing of wires and cables is nowadays number of tapes or strands, so that a machine may have
done by passing them through an extruder. Formerly, six bobbins on one cage and twelve on the other.
materials used for insulation included treated cloth or paper and various oil-based products. Since the mid-1960s,
plastic and polymers exhibiting properties similar to rub- 8.5 Forms of wire
ber have predominated.
Two or more wires may be wrapped concentrically, separated by insulation, to form coaxial cable. The wire or cable may be further protected with substances like paran,
some kind of preservative compound, bitumen, lead, aluminum sheathing, or steel taping. Stranding or covering
machines wind material onto wire which passes through
quickly. Some of the smallest machines for cotton covering have a large drum, which grips the wire and moves it
through toothed gears; the wire passes through the centre
of disks mounted above a long bed, and the disks carry
each a number of bobbins varying from six to twelve or
more in dierent machines. A supply of covering material is wound on each bobbin, and the end is led on to
the wire, which occupies a central position relatively to
the bobbins; the latter being revolved at a suitable speed
bodily with their disks, the cotton is consequently served
on to the wire, winding in spiral fashion so as to overlap.
If a large number of strands are required the disks are duplicated, so that as many as sixty spools may be carried,
the second set of strands being laid over the rst.
Further information: Copper wire and cable#Types of

copper wire and cable
8.5.1 Solid wire

Solid wire, also called solid-core or single-strand wire,
consists of one piece of metal wire. Solid wire is useful
for wiring breadboards. Solid wire is cheaper to manufacture than stranded wire and is used where there is little
need for exibility in the wire. Solid wire also provides
mechanical ruggedness; and, because it has relatively less
surface area which is exposed to attack by corrosives, protection against the environment.
8.5.2 Stranded wire
Coaxial cable, one example of a jacketed and insulated wire.
For heavier cables that are used for electric light and
power as well as submarine cables, the machines are
somewhat dierent in construction. The wire is still car- Stranded copper wire
ried through a hollow shaft, but the bobbins or spools of
covering material are set with their spindles at right an- Stranded wire is composed of a number of small gauge
gles to the axis of the wire, and they lie in a circular cage wire bundled or wrapped together to form a larger con-
80
CHAPTER 8. WIRE
ductor. Stranded wire is more exible than solid wire of

the same total cross-sectional area. Stranded wire tends
to be a better conductor than solid wire because the individual wires collectively comprise a greater surface area.
Stranded wire is used when higher resistance to metal
fatigue is required. Such situations include connections
between circuit boards in multi-printed-circuit-board devices, where the rigidity of solid wire would produce too
much stress as a result of movement during assembly or
servicing; A.C. line cords for appliances; musical instrument cables; computer mouse cables; welding electrode
cables; control cables connecting moving machine parts;
mining machine cables; trailing machine cables; and numerous others.
At high frequencies, current travels near the surface of
the wire because of the skin eect, resulting in increased
power loss in the wire. Stranded wire might seem to reduce this eect, since the total surface area of the strands
is greater than the surface area of the equivalent solid
wire, but ordinary stranded wire does not reduce the skin
eect because all the strands are short-circuited together
and behave as a single conductor. A stranded wire will
have higher resistance than a solid wire of the same diameter because the cross-section of the stranded wire is not
all copper; there are unavoidable gaps between the strands
(this is the circle packing problem for circles within a circle). A stranded wire with the same cross-section of conductor as a solid wire is said to have the same equivalent
gauge and is always a larger diameter.
numbers than that are typically found only in very large

cables.
For application where the wire moves, 19 is the lowest
that should be used (7 should only be used in applications
where the wire is placed and then does not move), and 49
is much better. For applications with constant repeated
movement, such as assembly robots and headphone wires,
70 to 100 is mandatory.
For applications that need even more exibility (welding
is the usual example, but also any need to move wire in
tight areas), even more strands are used. One example is
a 2/0 wire made from 5,292 strands of #36 gauge wire.
The strands are organized by rst creating a bundle of 7
strands. Then 7 of these bundles are put together into super bundles. Finally 108 super bundles are used to make
the nal cable. Each group of wires is wound in a helix so that when the wire is exed, the part of a bundle
that is stretched moves around the helix to a part that is
compressed to allow the wire to have less stress.
8.6 Varieties
However, for many high-frequency applications,

proximity eect is more severe than skin eect, and in
some limited cases, simple stranded wire can reduce
proximity eect. For better performance at high frequencies, litz wire, which has the individual strands
insulated and twisted in special patterns, may be used.
Germanium diode bound with gold wire.
8.5.3
Braided wire
A braided wire is composed of a number of small strands

of wire braided together. Similar to stranded wires,
braided wires are better conductors than solid wires.
Braided wires do not break easily when exed. Braided
wires are often suitable as an electromagnetic shield in
noise-reduction cables.
8.5.4
Number of strands
The more individual wire strands in a wire bundle,

the more exible, kink-resistant, break-resistant, and
stronger the wire is. But more strands increase cost.
The lowest number of strands usually seen is 7: one in the
middle, 6 surrounding it. The next level up is 19, which is
another layer of 12 strands on top of the 7. After that the
number varies, but 37 and 49 are common, then in the 70
to 100 range (the number is no longer exact). Even larger
Hook-up wire is small-to-medium gauge, solid or

stranded, insulated wire, used for making internal
connections inside electrical or electronic devices.
It is often tin-plated to facilitate soldering.
Wire bonding is the application of microscopic
wires for making electrical connections inside
semiconductor components and integrated circuits.
Magnet wire is solid wire, usually copper, which, to
allow closer winding when making electromagnetic
coils, is insulated only with varnish, rather than the
thicker plastic or other insulation commonly used on
electrical wire. It is used for the winding of motors,
transformers, inductors, generators, speaker coils,
etc. (For further information about copper magnet wire, see: Copper wire and cable#Magnet wire
(Winding wire).).
Coaxial cable is a cable consisting of an inner conductor, surrounded by a tubular insulating layer typ-
8.8. NOTES
ically made from a exible material with a high dielectric constant, all of which is then surrounded
by another conductive layer (typically of ne woven wire for exibility, or of a thin metallic foil),
and then nally covered again with a thin insulating layer on the outside. The term coaxial comes
from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the same geometric axis. Coaxial cables are often used as a transmission line for radio frequency
signals. In a hypothetical ideal coaxial cable the
electromagnetic eld carrying the signal exists only
in the space between the inner and outer conductors.
Practical cables achieve this objective to a high degree. A Coaxial Cable provides protection of signals
from external electromagnetic interference, and effectively guides signals with low emission along the
length of the cable.
Speaker wire is used to make the electrical connection between loudspeakers and audio ampliers.
Modern speaker wire consists of electrical conductors individually insulated by plastic.
Resistance wire is wire with higher than normal resistivity, often used for heating elements or for making wire-wound resistors. Nichrome wire is the most
common type.
8.7 See also

For transmission see: Power cable, High-voltage cable and HVDC
Barbed wire
Cable
Chicken wire
81
Wire rope
Wire wrapped jewelry
Wollaston wire
8.8 Notes
[1] Swiger Coil Systems. Edgewound Coils. Swiger Coil
Systems, A Wabtec Company. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
[2] Jack Ogden, Classical Gold wire: Some Aspects of its
Manufacture and Use, Jewellery Studies, 5, 1991, pp. 95
105.
[3] Jack Ogden, Connections between Islam, Europe, and the
Far East in the Medieval Period: The Evidence of the Jewelry Technology. Eds P. Jett, J Douglas, B. McCarthy,
J Winter. Scientic Research in the Field of Asian Art.
Fiftieth-Anniversary Symposium Proceedings. Archetype
Publications, London in association with the Freer Gallery
of Art, Smithsonian Institution, 2003.
[4] H. R. Schubert, 'The wiredrawers of Bristol' Journal Iron
& Steel Institute 159 (1948), 16-22.
[5] M. B. Donald, Elizabethan Monopolies: Company of Mineral and Battery Works (Olver & Boyd, Edinburgh 1961),
95-141.
[6] D. G. Tucker, 'The seventeenth century wireworks at
Whitebrook, Monmouthshire' Bull. Hist. Metall. Gp 7(1)
(1973), 28-35.
8.9 References
This article incorporates text from a publication now
in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911).
"Wire". Encyclopdia Britannica 28 (11th ed.).
Cambridge University Press. p. 738.
Electrical connector
Electrical wiring
Litz wire
Piano wire
Razor wire
THHN
Tinsel wire
Wire (album)
Wire (band)
Wire bonding
Wire gauge
Wire netting
8.10 External links

Wire Gauge to DiameterDiameter to Wire Gauge
Converter - Online calculator converts gauge to diameter or diameter to gauge for any wire size.
Chapter 9
Printed circuit board

Not to be confused with printed electronics.
Printed circuit redirects here. For the defunct company, see Printed Circuit Corporation.
A printed circuit board (PCB) mechanically supports
circuit board assembly or PCB assembly (PCBA). The IPC

preferred term for assembled boards is circuit card assembly (CCA),[1] and for assembled backplanes it is backplane
assemblies. The term PCB is used informally both for
bare and assembled boards.
The world market for bare PCBs reached nearly $60 billion in 2012.[2]
9.1 Design
Part of a 1983 Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer board; a populated PCB, showing the conductive traces, vias (the through-hole
paths to the other surface), and some mounted electronic components
and electrically connects electronic components using

conductive tracks, pads and other features etched from
copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate.
PCBs can be single sided (one copper layer), double sided
(two copper layers) or multi-layer (outer and inner layers).
Multi-layer PCBs allow for much higher component density. Conductors on dierent layers are connected with
plated-through holes called vias. Advanced PCBs may A board designed in 1967; the sweeping curves in the traces are
contain components - capacitors, resistors or active de- evidence of freehand design using self-adhesive tape.
vices - embedded in the substrate.
Initially PCBs were designed manually by creating a
Printed circuit boards are used in all but the simplest elec- photomask on a clear mylar sheet, usually at two or four
tronic products. Alternatives to PCBs include wire wrap times the true size. Starting from the schematic diagram
and point-to-point construction. PCBs require the addi- the component pin pads were laid out on the mylar and
tional design eort to lay out the circuit, but manufac- then traces were routed to connect the pads. Rub-on dry
turing and assembly can be automated. Manufacturing transfers of common component footprints increased efcircuits with PCBs is cheaper and faster than with other ciency. Traces were made with self-adhesive tape. Prewiring methods as components are mounted and wired printed non-reproducing grids on the mylar assisted in
with one single part. Furthermore, operator wiring errors layout. To fabricate the board, the nished photomask
was photolithographically reproduced onto a photoresist
are eliminated.
When the board has only copper connections and no em- coated on the blank copper-clad boards.
bedded components, it is more correctly called a printed Nowadays PCBs are designed with dedicated layout softwiring board (PWB) or etched wiring board. Although ware, generally in the following steps:[3]
more accurate, the term printed wiring board has fallen
1. Schematic capture through an electronic design auinto disuse. A PCB populated with electronic compotomation (EDA) tool.
nents is called a printed circuit assembly (PCA), printed
82
9.2. MANUFACTURING
83
2. Card dimensions and template are decided based on 9.2.2 Panelization

required circuitry and case of the PCB.
Panelization is a procedure whereby a number of PCBs
3. The positions of the components and heat sinks are are grouped for manufacturing onto a larger board - the
determined.
panel. Usually a panel consists of a single design but
4. Layer stack of the PCB is decided, with one to tens sometimes multiple designs are mixed on a single panel.
of layers depending on complexity. Ground and There are two types of panels: assembly panels - often
power planes are decided. A power plane is the called arrays - and bare board manufacturing panels. The
counterpart to a ground plane and behaves as an AC assembler often mount components on panels rather than
[10]
The bare board
signal ground while providing DC power to the cir- single PCBs because this is ecient.
manufactures
always
uses
panels,
not
only
for eciency,
cuits mounted on the PCB. Signal interconnections
but
because
of
the
requirements
the
plating
process.
Thus
are traced on signal planes. Signal planes can be on
a
manufacturing
panel
can
consist
of
a
grouping
of
inthe outer as well as inner layers. For optimal EMI
dividual
PCBs
or
of
arrays,
depending
on
what
must
be
performance high frequency signals are routed in in[5]
[4]
delivered.
ternal layers between power or ground planes.
The panel is eventually broken apart into individual
5. Line impedance is determined using dielectric layer
PCBs; this is called depaneling. Separating the individthickness, routing copper thickness and trace-width.
ual PCBs is frequently aided by drilling or routing perTrace separation is also taken into account in case
forations along the boundaries of the individual circuits,
of dierential signals. Microstrip, stripline or dual
much like a sheet of postage stamps. Another method,
stripline can be used to route signals.
which takes less space, is to cut V-shaped grooves across
6. Components are placed. Thermal considerations the full dimension of the panel. The individual PCBs can
and geometry are taken into account. Vias and lands then be broken apart along this line of weakness.[11] Today depaneling is often done by lasers which cut the board
are marked.
with no contact. Laser panelization reduces stress on the
7. Signal traces are routed. Electronic design automa- fragile circuits.
tion tools usually create clearances and connections
in power and ground planes automatically.
8. Gerber
les
are
manufacturing.[5][6][7][8]
generated
for
9.2 Manufacturing
PCB manufacturing consists of many steps.
9.2.1
PCB CAM
Manufacturing starts from the PCB fabrication data generated by CAD.[5] The Gerber or Excellon les in the fabrication data are never used directly on the manufacturing equipment but always read into the CAM (Computer
Aided Manufacturing) software. CAM performs the following functions:[9]
1. Input of the Gerber data[5][8]
2. Verication of the data; optionally DFM
3. Compensation for deviations in the manufacturing
processes (e.g. scaling to compensate for distortions
during lamination)
4. Panelization
5. Output of the digital tools (copper patterns, solder
resist image, legend image, drill les, automated optical inspection data, electrical test les,...)[5]
9.2.3 Copper patterning

The rst step is to replicate the pattern in the fabricators
CAM system on a protective mask on the copper foil PCB
layers. Subsequent etching removes the unwanted copper. (Alternatively, a conductive ink can be ink-jetted on
a blank (non-conductive) board. This technique is also
used in the manufacture of hybrid circuits.)
1. Silk screen printing uses etch-resistant inks to create the protective mask.
2. Photoengraving uses a photomask and developer to
selectively remove a UV-sensitive photoresist coating and thus create a photoresist mask. Direct
imaging techniques are sometimes used for highresolution requirements. Experiments were made
with thermal resist.[12]
3. PCB milling uses a two or three-axis mechanical
milling system to mill away the copper foil from the
substrate. A PCB milling machine (referred to as
a 'PCB Prototyper') operates in a similar way to a
plotter, receiving commands from the host software
that control the position of the milling head in the x,
y, and (if relevant) z axis.
4. Laser resist ablation Spray black paint onto copper clad laminate, place into CNC laser plotter. The
laser raster-scans the PCB and ablates (vaporizes)
the paint where no resist is wanted. (Note: laser
84
CHAPTER 9. PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD

copper ablation is rarely used and is considered experimental.)
The method chosen depends on the number of boards to

be produced and the required resolution.
Large volume
Silk screen printing used for PCBs with bigger features
Photoengravingused when ner features are required.
Small volume
Print onto transparent lm and use as photo mask
along with photo-sensitized boards. (i.e., presensitized boards), then etch. (Alternatively, use a
lm photoplotter)
Laser resist ablation.
PCB milling.
Hobbyist
The two processing methods used to produce a double-sided PWB
Laser-printed resist: Laser-print onto transparency

with plated through holes.
lm, heat-transfer with an iron or modied laminator onto bare laminate, touch up with a marker, then
etch.
mask, this mask exposes those parts of the substrate that
will eventually become the traces.) Additional copper is
Vinyl lm and resist, non-washable marker, some
then plated onto the board in the unmasked areas; copper
other methods. Labor-intensive, only suitable for
may be plated to any desired weight. Tin-lead or other
single boards.
surface platings are then applied. The mask is stripped
away and a brief etching step removes the now-exposed
9.2.4 Subtractive, additive and semi- bare original copper laminate from the board, isolating
the individual traces. Some single-sided boards which
additive processes
have plated-through holes are made in this way. General
Subtractive methods remove copper from an entirely Electric made consumer radio sets in the late 1960s using
copper-coated board to leave only the desired copper pat- additive boards.
tern: In additive methods the pattern is electroplated onto
a bare substrate using a complex process. The advantage
of the additive method is that less material is needed and
less waste is produced. In the full additive process the
bare laminate is covered with a photosensitive lm which
is imaged (exposed to light through a mask and then developed which removes the unexposed lm). The exposed areas are sensitized in a chemical bath, usually containing palladium and similar to that used for through hole
plating which makes the exposed area capable of bonding
metal ions. The laminate is then plated with copper in the
sensitized areas. When the mask is stripped, the PCB is
nished.
The (semi-)additive process is commonly used for multilayer boards as it facilitates the plating-through of the
holes to produce conductive vias in the circuit board.
9.2.5 Chemical etching
Chemical etching is usually done with ammonium persulfate or ferric chloride. For PTH (plated-through holes),
additional steps of electroless deposition are done after
the holes are drilled, then copper is electroplated to build
up the thickness, the boards are screened, and plated with
tin/lead. The tin/lead becomes the resist leaving the bare
Semi-additive is the most common process: The unpat- copper to be etched away.
terned board has a thin layer of copper already on it. A re- The simplest method, used for small-scale production and
verse mask is then applied. (Unlike a subtractive process often by hobbyists, is immersion etching, in which the
9.2. MANUFACTURING
85
board is submerged in etching solution such as ferric chloride. Compared with methods used for mass production,
the etching time is long. Heat and agitation can be applied
to the bath to speed the etching rate. In bubble etching,
air is passed through the etchant bath to agitate the solution and speed up etching. Splash etching uses a motordriven paddle to splash boards with etchant; the process
has become commercially obsolete since it is not as fast
as spray etching. In spray etching, the etchant solution is
distributed over the boards by nozzles, and recirculated
by pumps. Adjustment of the nozzle pattern, ow rate,
temperature, and etchant composition gives predictable
control of etching rates and high production rates.[13]
As more copper is consumed from the boards, the etchant
becomes saturated and less eective; dierent etchants
have dierent capacities for copper, with some as high
as 150 grams of copper per litre of solution. In commercial use, etchants can be regenerated to restore their
activity, and the dissolved copper recovered and sold.
Small-scale etching requires attention to disposal of used
etchant, which is corrosive and toxic due to its metal content.
The etchant removes copper on all surfaces exposed by
the resist. Undercut occurs when etchant attacks the
thin edge of copper under the resist; this can reduce conductor widths and cause open-circuits. Careful control of
etch time is required to prevent undercut. Where metallic plating is used as a resist, it can overhang which can
cause short-circuits between adjacent traces when closely
spaced. Overhang can be removed by wire-brushing the
board after etching.[13]
9.2.6
9.2.8 Drilling
Holes through a PCB are typically drilled with smalldiameter drill bits made of solid coated tungsten carbide. Coated tungsten carbide is recommended since
many board materials are very abrasive and drilling must
be high RPM and high feed to be cost eective. Drill
bits must also remain sharp so as not to mar or tear the
traces. Drilling with high-speed-steel is simply not feasible since the drill bits will dull quickly and thus tear the
copper and ruin the boards. The drilling is performed by
automated drilling machines with placement controlled
by a drill tape or drill le. These computer-generated les
are also called numerically controlled drill (NCD) les or
"Excellon les". The drill le describes the location and
size of each drilled hole.
Holes may be made conductive, by electroplating or inserting metal eyelets (hollow), to electrically and thermally connect board layers. Some conductive holes are
Inner layer automated optical inspec- intended for the insertion of through-hole-component
leads. Others, typically smaller and used to connect board
tion (AOI)
layers, are called vias.
The inner layers are given a complete machine inspection

before lamination because afterwards mistakes cannot be
corrected. The automatic optical inspection system scans
the board and compares it with the digital image generated from the original design data. [14]
9.2.7
Eyelets (hollow).
Lamination
Multi-layer printed circuit boards have trace layers inside

the board. This is achieved by laminating a stack of materials in a press by applying pressure and heat for a period
of time. This results in an inseparable one piece product. For example, a four-layer PCB can be fabricated by
starting from a two-sided copper-clad laminate, etch the
circuitry on both sides, then laminate to the top and bottom prepreg and copper foil. It is then drilled, plated, and
etched again to get traces on top and bottom layers.
When very small vias are required, drilling with mechanical bits is costly because of high rates of wear and
breakage. In this case, the vias may be laser drilled
evaporated by lasers. Laser-drilled vias typically have an
inferior surface nish inside the hole. These holes are
called micro vias.[15][16]
It is also possible with controlled-depth drilling, laser
drilling, or by pre-drilling the individual sheets of the
PCB before lamination, to produce holes that connect
only some of the copper layers, rather than passing
through the entire board. These holes are called blind vias
when they connect an internal copper layer to an outer
layer, or buried vias when they connect two or more internal copper layers and no outer layers.
The hole walls for boards with two or more layers can
be made conductive and then electroplated with copper
to form plated-through holes.[17] These holes electrically
connect the conducting layers of the PCB. For multi-layer
boards, those with three layers or more, drilling typi-
86
cally produces a smear of the high temperature decomposition products of bonding agent in the laminate system. Before the holes can be plated through, this smear
must be removed by a chemical de-smear process, or by
plasma-etch. The de-smear process ensures that a good
connection is made to the copper layers when the hole is
plated through. On high reliability boards a process called
etch-back is performed chemically with a potassium permanganate based etchant or plasma.[18] The etch-back removes resin and the glass bers so that the copper layers
extend into the hole and as the hole is plated become integral with the deposited copper.
9.2.9
Plating and coating
ductive metal laments on or in a printed circuit board

(PCB) under the inuence of a DC voltage bias.[24][25]
Silver, zinc, and aluminum are known to grow whiskers
under the inuence of an electric eld. Silver also grows
conducting surface paths in the presence of halide and
other ions, making it a poor choice for electronics use.
Tin will grow whiskers due to tension in the plated surface. Tin-Lead or solder plating also grows whiskers,
only reduced by the percentage Tin replaced. Reow
to melt solder or tin plate to relieve surface stress lowers whisker incidence. Another coating issue is tin pest,
the transformation of tin to a powdery allotrope at low
temperature.[26]
9.2.10 Solder resist application
PCBs[19] are plated with solder, tin, or gold over nickel Areas that should not be soldered may be covered with
as a resist for etching away the unneeded underlying solder resist (solder mask). One of the most comcopper.[20]
mon solder resists used today is called LPI (liquid
After PCBs are etched and then rinsed with water, the photoimageable).[27] A photo-sensitive coating is applied
solder mask is applied, and then any exposed copper to the surface of the PWB, then exposed to light through
is coated with solder, nickel/gold, or some other anti- the solder mask image lm, and nally developed where
the unexposed areas are washed away. Dry lm solder
corrosion coating.[21][22]
mask is similar to the dry lm used to image the PWB
Matte solder is usually fused to provide a better bondfor plating or etching. After being laminated to the PWB
ing surface or stripped to bare copper. Treatments, such
surface it is imaged and develop as LPI. Once common
as benzimidazolethiol, prevent surface oxidation of bare
but no longer commonly used because of its low accuracy
copper. The places to which components will be mounted
and resolution is to screen print epoxy ink. Solder resist
are typically plated, because untreated bare copper oxialso provides protection from the environment.
dizes quickly, and therefore is not readily solderable. Traditionally, any exposed copper was coated with solder by
hot air solder levelling (HASL). The HASL nish pre- 9.2.11 Legend printing
vents oxidation from the underlying copper, thereby guaranteeing a solderable surface.[23] This solder was a tin- A legend is often printed on one or both sides of the PCB.
lead alloy, however new solder compounds are now used It contains the component designators, switch settings,
to achieve compliance with the RoHS directive in the EU test points and other indications helpful in assembling,
and US, which restricts the use of lead. One of these testing and servicing the circuit board.[28][29]
lead-free compounds is SN100CL, made up of 99.3% tin,
0.7% copper, 0.05% nickel, and a nominal of 60ppm ger- There are three methods to print the legend.
manium.
1. Silk screen printing epoxy ink was the established
It is important to use solder compatible with both the
method. It was so common that legend is often misPCB and the parts used. An example is ball grid array
named silk or silkscreen.
(BGA) using tin-lead solder balls for connections losing
their balls on bare copper traces or using lead-free solder
paste.
Other platings used are OSP (organic surface protectant),
immersion silver (IAg), immersion tin, electroless nickel
with immersion gold coating (ENIG), electroless nickel
electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG) and direct gold plating (over nickel). Edge connectors, placed
along one edge of some boards, are often nickel plated
then gold plated. Another coating consideration is rapid
diusion of coating metal into Tin solder. Tin forms intermetallics such as Cu5 Sn6 and Ag3 Cu that dissolve into
the Tin liquidus or solidus(@50C), stripping surface coating or leaving voids.
2. Liquid photo imaging is a more accurate method

than screen printing.
3. Ink jet printing is new but increasingly used. Ink jet
can print variable data such as a text or bar code with
a serial number.
9.2.12 Bare-board test
Unpopulated boards are usually bare-board tested for

shorts and opens. A short is a connection between
two points that should not be connected. An open is a
missing connection between points that should be conElectrochemical migration (ECM) is the growth of connected. For high-volume production a xture or a rigid
9.2. MANUFACTURING
needle adapter is used to make contact with copper lands
on the board. Building the adapter is a signicant xed
cost and is only economical for high-volume or high-value
production. For small or medium volume production
ying probe testers are used where test probes are moved
over the board by an XY drive to make contact with the
copper lands.[30] The CAM system instructs the electrical
tester to apply a voltage to each contact point as required
and to check that this voltage appears on the appropriate
contact points and only on these.
9.2.13
Assembly
87
less space using surface-mount techniques. For further
comparison, see the SMT page.
After the board has been populated it may be tested in a
variety of ways:
While the power is o, visual inspection, automated
optical inspection. JEDEC guidelines for PCB component placement, soldering, and inspection are
commonly used to maintain quality control in this
stage of PCB manufacturing.
While the power is o, analog signature analysis,
power-o testing.
While the power is on, in-circuit test, where physical
measurements (for example, voltage) can be done.
While the power is on, functional test, just checking
if the PCB does what it had been designed to do.
To facilitate these tests, PCBs may be designed with extra
pads to make temporary connections. Sometimes these
pads must be isolated with resistors. The in-circuit test
may also exercise boundary scan test features of some
components. In-circuit test systems may also be used to
program nonvolatile memory components on the board.
PCB with test connection pads
In boundary scan testing, test circuits integrated into various ICs on the board form temporary connections between the PCB traces to test that the ICs are mounted
correctly. Boundary scan testing requires that all the ICs
to be tested use a standard test conguration procedure,
the most common one being the Joint Test Action Group
(JTAG) standard. The JTAG test architecture provides
a means to test interconnects between integrated circuits
on a board without using physical test probes. JTAG
tool vendors provide various types of stimulus and sophisticated algorithms, not only to detect the failing nets,
but also to isolate the faults to specic nets, devices, and
pins.[34]
After the printed circuit board (PCB) is completed, electronic components must be attached to form a functional
printed circuit assembly,[31][32] or PCA (sometimes called
a printed circuit board assembly PCBA). In throughhole construction, component leads are inserted in holes.
In surface-mount (SMT - surface mount technology) construction, the components are placed on pads or lands on
the outer surfaces of the PCB. In both kinds of construction, component leads are electrically and mechanically
When boards fail the test, technicians may desolder and
xed to the board with a molten metal solder.
replace failed components, a task known as rework.
There are a variety of soldering techniques used to attach
components to a PCB. High volume production is usually
done with SMT placement machine and bulk wave sol- 9.2.14 Protection and packaging
dering or reow ovens, but skilled technicians are able to
solder very tiny parts (for instance 0201 packages which PCBs intended for extreme environments often have a
are 0.02 in. by 0.01 in.)[33] by hand under a microscope, conformal coating, which is applied by dipping or sprayusing tweezers and a ne tip soldering iron for small vol- ing after the components have been soldered. The coat
ume prototypes. Some parts may be extremely dicult prevents corrosion and leakage currents or shorting due
to solder by hand, such as BGA packages.
to condensation. The earliest conformal coats were wax;
Often, through-hole and surface-mount construction modern conformal coats are usually dips of dilute solumust be combined in a single assembly because some re- tions of silicone rubber, polyurethane, acrylic, or epoxy.
quired components are available only in surface-mount Another technique for applying a conformal coating is for
packages, while others are available only in through-hole plastic to be sputtered onto the PCB in a vacuum champackages. Another reason to use both methods is that ber. The chief disadvantage of conformal coatings is that
[35]
through-hole mounting can provide needed strength for servicing of the board is rendered extremely dicult.
components likely to endure physical stress, while com- Many assembled PCBs are static sensitive, and thereponents that are expected to go untouched will take up fore must be placed in antistatic bags during transport.
88
When handling these boards, the user must be grounded

(earthed). Improper handling techniques might transmit
an accumulated static charge through the board, damaging or destroying components. Even bare boards are
sometimes static sensitive. Traces have become so ne
that its quite possible to blow an etch o the board (or
change its characteristics) with a static charge. This is especially true on non-traditional PCBs such as MCMs and
microwave PCBs.
Through-hole manufacture adds to board cost by requiring many holes to be drilled accurately, and limits the
available routing area for signal traces on layers immediately below the top layer on multi-layer boards since the
holes must pass through all layers to the opposite side.
Once surface-mounting came into use, small-sized SMD
components were used where possible, with throughhole mounting only of components unsuitably large for
surface-mounting due to power requirements or mechanical limitations, or subject to mechanical stress which
might damage the PCB.
9.3 PCB characteristics

Much of the electronics industrys PCB design, assembly,
and quality control follows standards published by the IPC
organization.
9.3.1
Through-hole technology
Through-hole devices mounted on the circuit board

of a mid-1980s home computer
A box of drill bits used for making holes in printed
circuit boards. While tungsten-carbide bits are very
hard, they eventually wear out or break. Making
holes is a considerable part of the cost of a throughhole printed circuit board.
9.3.2 Surface-mount technology

Main article: Surface-mount technology
Surface-mount technology emerged in the 1960s, gained
Through-hole (leaded) resistors
The rst PCBs used through-hole technology, mounting

electronic components by leads inserted through holes on
one side of the board and soldered onto copper traces
on the other side. Boards may be single-sided, with an
unplated component side, or more compact double-sided
boards, with components soldered on both sides. Horizontal installation of through-hole parts with two axial
leads (such as resistors, capacitors, and diodes) is done
by bending the leads 90 degrees in the same direction, inserting the part in the board (often bending leads located
on the back of the board in opposite directions to improve the parts mechanical strength), soldering the leads,
and trimming o the ends. Leads may be soldered either
manually or by a wave soldering machine.[36]
Through-hole PCB technology almost completely replaced earlier electronics assembly techniques such as
point-to-point construction. From the second generation
of computers in the 1950s until surface-mount technology became popular in the late 1980s, every component
on a typical PCB was a through-hole component.
Surface mount components, including resistors, transistors and

an integrated circuit
momentum in the early 1980s and became widely used

by the mid-1990s. Components were mechanically redesigned to have small metal tabs or end caps that could
be soldered directly onto the PCB surface, instead of
wire leads to pass through holes. Components became
much smaller and component placement on both sides of
the board became more common than with through-hole
mounting, allowing much smaller PCB assemblies with
much higher circuit densities. Surface mounting lends
itself well to a high degree of automation, reducing labor costs and greatly increasing production rates. Components can be supplied mounted on carrier tapes. Surface mount components can be about one-quarter to onetenth of the size and weight of through-hole components,
9.3. PCB CHARACTERISTICS

and passive components much cheaper; prices of semiconductor surface mount devices (SMDs) are determined
more by the chip itself than the package, with little price
advantage over larger packages. Some wire-ended components, such as 1N4148 small-signal switch diodes, are
actually signicantly cheaper than SMD equivalents.
9.3.3
Circuit properties of the PCB
Each trace consists of a at, narrow part of the copper foil

that remains after etching. The resistance, determined
by width and thickness, of the traces must be suciently
low for the current the conductor will carry. Power and
ground traces may need to be wider than signal traces.
In a multi-layer board one entire layer may be mostly
solid copper to act as a ground plane for shielding and
power return. For microwave circuits, transmission lines
can be laid out in the form of stripline and microstrip
with carefully controlled dimensions to assure a consistent impedance. In radio-frequency and fast switching
circuits the inductance and capacitance of the printed
circuit board conductors become signicant circuit elements, usually undesired; but they can be used as a deliberate part of the circuit design, obviating the need for
additional discrete components.
9.3.4
89
The cloth or ber material used, resin material, and the
cloth to resin ratio determine the laminates type designation (FR-4, CEM-1, G-10, etc.) and therefore the characteristics of the laminate produced. Important characteristics are the level to which the laminate is re retardant,
the dielectric constant (e), the loss factor (t), the tensile
strength, the shear strength, the glass transition temperature (T ), and the Z-axis expansion coecient (how much
the thickness changes with temperature).
There are quite a few dierent dielectrics that can be chosen to provide dierent insulating values depending on
the requirements of the circuit. Some of these dielectrics
are polytetrauoroethylene (Teon), FR-4, FR-1, CEM1 or CEM-3. Well known prepreg materials used in the
PCB industry are FR-2 (phenolic cotton paper), FR-3
(cotton paper and epoxy), FR-4 (woven glass and epoxy),
FR-5 (woven glass and epoxy), FR-6 (matte glass and
polyester), G-10 (woven glass and epoxy), CEM-1 (cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-2 (cotton paper and epoxy),
CEM-3 (non-woven glass and epoxy), CEM-4 (woven
glass and epoxy), CEM-5 (woven glass and polyester).
Thermal expansion is an important consideration especially with ball grid array (BGA) and naked die technologies, and glass ber oers the best dimensional stability.
FR-4 is by far the most common material used today. The
board with copper on it is called copper-clad laminate.
Materials
Excluding exotic products using special materials or pro- Copper thickness

cesses all printed circuit boards manufactured today can
be built using the following four materials:
Copper thickness of PCBs can be specied as units of
length (in micrometers or mils) but is often specied
1. Laminates
as weight of copper per area (in ounce per square foot)
which is easier to measure. One ounce per square foot is
2. Copper-clad laminates
1.344 mils or 34 micrometres thickness.
3. Resin impregnated B-stage cloth (Pre-preg)
The printed circuit board industry denes heavy copper
4. Copper foil
Laminates
as layers exceeding three ounces of copper, or approximately 0.0042 inches (4.2 mils, 105 m) thick. PCB
designers and fabricators often use heavy copper when
design and manufacturing circuit boards in order to increase current-carrying capacity as well as resistance to
thermal strains. Heavy copper plated vias transfer heat
to external heat sinks. IPC 2152 is a standard for determining current-carrying capacity of printed circuit board
traces.
Laminates are manufactured by curing under pressure

and temperature layers of cloth or paper with thermoset
resin to form an integral nal piece of uniform thickness.
The size can be up to 4 by 8 feet (1.2 by 2.4 m) in width
and length. Varying cloth weaves (threads per inch or
cm), cloth thickness, and resin percentage are used to
achieve the desired nal thickness and dielectric characteristics. Available standard laminate thickness are listed Safety certication (US)
in Table 1:
Safety Standard UL 796 covers component safety requirements for printed wiring boards for use as compo[1] Although this specication has been superseded and the nents in devices or appliances. Testing analyzes characnew specication does not list standard sizes,[38] these are teristics such as ammability, maximum operating temstill the most common sizes stocked and ordered for man- perature, electrical tracking, heat deection, and direct
support of live electrical parts.
ufacturer.
Notes:
90
9.4 Multiwire boards
Additionally, components located in the interior are dicult to replace. Some versions of cordwood construction
Multiwire is a patented technique of interconnection used soldered single-sided PCBs as the interconnection
which uses machine-routed insulated wires embedded in method (as pictured), allowing the use of normal-leaded
a non-conducting matrix (often plastic resin). It was used components.
during the 1980s and 1990s. (Kollmorgen Technologies Before the advent of integrated circuits, this method alCorp, U.S. Patent 4,175,816 led 1978) Multiwire is still lowed the highest possible component packing density;
available in 2010 through Hitachi. There are other com- because of this, it was used by a number of computer venpetitive discrete wiring technologies that have been de- dors including Control Data Corporation. The cordwood
veloped (Jumatech , layered sheets).
method of construction was used only rarely once semiSince it was quite easy to stack interconnections (wires) conductor electronics and PCBs became widespread.
inside the embedding matrix, the approach allowed designers to forget completely about the routing of wires
(usually a time-consuming operation of PCB design):
Anywhere the designer needs a connection, the machine
will draw a wire in straight line from one location/pin to
another. This led to very short design times (no complex
algorithms to use even for high density designs) as well as
reduced crosstalk (which is worse when wires run parallel to each otherwhich almost never happens in Multiwire), though the cost is too high to compete with cheaper
PCB technologies when large quantities are needed.
9.6 History
Development of the methods used in modern printed circuit boards started early in the 20th century. In 1903,
a German inventor, Albert Hanson, described at foil
conductors laminated to an insulating board, in multiple layers. Thomas Edison experimented with chemical
methods of plating conductors onto linen paper in 1904.
Arthur Berry in 1913 patented a print-and-etch method in
Corrections can be made to a Multiwire board more easily Britain, and in the United States Max Schoop obtained a
than to a PCB.[39]
patent[40] to ame-spray metal onto a board through a patterned mask. Charles Durcase in 1927 patented a method
of electroplating circuit patterns.[41]
9.5 Cordwood construction
A cordwood module
Cordwood construction can save signicant space and

was often used with wire-ended components in applications where space was at a premium (such as missile guidance and telemetry systems) and in high-speed
computers, where short traces were important. In
cordwood construction, axial-leaded components were
mounted between two parallel planes. The components
were either soldered together with jumper wire, or they
were connected to other components by thin nickel ribbon welded at right angles onto the component leads. To
avoid shorting together dierent interconnection layers,
thin insulating cards were placed between them. Perforations or holes in the cards allowed component leads to
project through to the next interconnection layer. One
disadvantage of this system was that special nickel-leaded
components had to be used to allow the interconnecting
welds to be made. Dierential thermal expansion of the
component could put pressure on the leads of the components and the PCB traces and cause physical damage
(as was seen in several modules on the Apollo program).
The Austrian engineer Paul Eisler invented the printed

circuit as part of a radio set while working in England
around 1936. Around 1943 the USA began to use the
technology on a large scale to make proximity fuses for
use in World War II.[41] After the war, in 1948, the USA
released the invention for commercial use. Printed circuits did not become commonplace in consumer electronics until the mid-1950s, after the Auto-Sembly process
was developed by the United States Army. At around the
same time in Britain work along similar lines was carried
out by Georey Dummer, then at the RRDE.
A PCB as a design on a computer (left) and realized as a board

assembly populated with components (right). The board is double
sided, with through-hole plating, green solder resist and a white
legend. Both surface mount and through-hole components have
been used.
Before printed circuits (and for a while after their invention), point-to-point construction was used. For prototypes, or small production runs, wire wrap or turret board
9.7. SEE ALSO
A PCB in a computer mouse. The component side (left) and the

printed side (right).
The component side of a PCB in a computer mouse; some examples for common components and their reference designations in
the legend.
91
withstand being red from a gun, and could be produced
in quantity. The Centralab Division of Globe Union submitted a proposal which met the requirements: a ceramic
plate would be screenprinted with metallic paint for conductors and carbon material for resistors, with ceramic
disc capacitors and subminiature vacuum tubes soldered
in place.[42] The technique proved viable, and the resulting patent on the process, which was classied by the U.S.
Army, was assigned to Globe Union. It was not until 1984
that the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
(IEEE) awarded Mr. Harry W. Rubinstein, the former
head of Globe Unions Centralab Division, its coveted
Cledo Brunetti Award for early key contributions to the
development of printed components and conductors on a
common insulating substrate.[43] As well, Mr. Rubinstein
was honored in 1984 by his alma mater, the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, for his innovations in the technology of printed electronic circuits and the fabrication of
capacitors.[44]
Originally, every electronic component had wire leads,
and the PCB had holes drilled for each wire of each
component. The components leads were then passed
through the holes and soldered to the PCB trace. This
method of assembly is called through-hole construction.
In 1949, Moe Abramson and Stanislaus F. Danko of the
United States Army Signal Corps developed the AutoSembly process in which component leads were inserted
into a copper foil interconnection pattern and dip soldered. The patent they obtained in 1956 was assigned to
the U.S. Army.[45] With the development of board lamination and etching techniques, this concept evolved into
the standard printed circuit board fabrication process in
use today. Soldering could be done automatically by passing the board over a ripple, or wave, of molten solder in
a wave-soldering machine. However, the wires and holes
are wasteful since drilling holes is expensive and the protruding wires are merely cut o.
From the 1980s small surface mount parts have been used
increasingly instead of through-hole components; this has
led to smaller boards for a given functionality and lower
production costs, but with some additional diculty in
servicing faulty boards.
Historically many measurements related to PCB design

were specied in multiples of a thousandth of an inch,
often called mils. For example, DIP and most other
through-hole components have pins located on a grid
spacing of 100 mils, in order to be breadboard-friendly.
Surface-mount SOIC components have a pin pitch of 50
Component and solderside
mils. SOP components have a pin pitch of 25 mils. Level
B technology recommends a minimum trace width of 8
can be more ecient. Predating the printed circuit inven- mils, which allows double-track two traces between
tion, and similar in spirit, was John Sargrove's 19361947 DIP pins.[46][47]
Electronic Circuit Making Equipment (ECME) which
sprayed metal onto a Bakelite plastic board. The ECME
could produce 3 radios per minute.
During World War II, the development of the anti-aircraft
proximity fuse required an electronic circuit that could
92

Occam process another process for the manufacturing of PCBs
Printed electronics creation of components by
printing
Printed circuit board milling
Stripboard
Veroboard
PCB materials
Schematic Capture (KiCad)
Conductive ink
Laminate materials:
BT-Epoxy
Composite epoxy material, CEM-1,5
Cyanate Ester
FR-2
FR-4, the most common PCB material
Polyimide
PTFE, Polytetrauoroethylene (Teon)
PCB layout software
PCB layout (KiCad)
List of EDA companies

Comparison of EDA software
9.8 References
[1] IPC-14.38
[2] http://www.ipc.org/ContentPage.aspx?pageid=
World-PCB-Market-Grew-in-2012 IPC World PCB
Production Report 2013
[3] http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~{}prabal/teaching/
cs194-05-s08/cs194-designflow.ppt Printed Circuit
Board Design Flow Methodology
3D View (KiCad)
[4] See appendix D of IPC-2251
9.7 See also
[5] Tavernier, Karel. PCB Fabrication Data - A Guide.

Ucamco. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
Breadboard
[6] Vermeire, Filip. PCB Fabrication Data Example 1.

Ucamco. Ucamco. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
C.I.D.+
Design for manufacturability (PCB)
Electronic packaging
Electronic waste
Multi-chip module
[7] Vermeire, Filip. PCB Fabrication Data Example 2.

Ucamco. Ucamco. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
[8] The Gerber File Format Specication. Ucamco. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
[9] Front-end tool data preparation. Eurocircuits. Retrieved 2 Sep 2013.
9.8. REFERENCES
[10] Making a PCB - Educational movies. Eurocircuits. Eurocircuits. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
[11] Kraig Mitzner, Complete PCB Design Using OrCad Capture and Layout, pages 443446, Newnes, 2011 ISBN
0080549209.
[12] Itshak Ta, Hai Benron. Liquid Photoresists for Thermal
Direct Imaging. The Board Authority, October 1999.
[13] R. S. Khandpur,Printed circuit boards: design, fabrication,
assembly and testing, Tata-McGraw Hill, 2005 ISBN 007-058814-7, pages 373378
[14] Inner layer inspection. Eurocircuits. Retrieved 31 Aug
2013.
93
[30] Electrical test. Eurocircuits. Retrieved 13 Apr 2015.

[31] Ayob, M.; Kendall, G. (2008). A Survey of Surface Mount Device Placement Machine Optimisation: Machine Classication.
European Journal of Operational Research 186 (3): 893914.
doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2007.03.042.
[32] Ayob, M.; Kendall, G. (2005).
A Triple Objective Function with a Chebychev Dynamic Pickand-place Point Specication Approach to Optimise
the Surface Mount Placement Machine. European
Journal of Operational Research 164 (3): 609626.
doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2003.09.034.
[15] http://www.somacis.com/prodotti/tecnologie_detail.
php?language=en&tec=8&title=laser-drilling
[33] Borkes, Tom. SMTA TechScan Compendium: 0201 Design, Assembly and Process (PDF). Surface Mount Technology Association. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
[16] http://www.magazines007.com/pdf/PCB-May2013.pdf|
title= Microvia Fabrication: When to drill, When to Blast
[34] JTAG Tutorial (http://www.corelis.com/education/

JTAG_Tutorial.htm#History)
[17] Making Holes Conductive. Electronic Chemicals. Retrieved 5 Sep 2012.

[18] Electro-Brite E-Prep Desmear/Etchback. OM Group,
Inc. Retrieved 5 Sep 2012.
[19] Appendix F Sample Fabrication Sequence for a Standard Printed Circuit Board, Linkages: Manufacturing
Trends in Electronics Interconnection Technology, National Academy of Sciences
[20] Production Methods and Materials 3.1 General Printed
Wiring Board Project Report Table of Contents, Design
for the Environment (DfE), US EPA
[21] George Milad and Don Gudeczauskas. Solder Joint Reliability of Gold Surface Finishes (ENIG, ENEPIG and
DIG) for PWB Assembled with Lead Free SAC Alloy.
[22] Nickel/Gold tab plating line
[35] Shibu. Intro To Embedded Systems 1E. Tata McGraw-Hill.

p. 293. ISBN 978-0-07-014589-4.
[36] Electronic Packaging:Solder Mounting Technologies in
K.H. Buschow et al (ed), Encyclopedia of Materials:
Science and Technology, Elsevier, 2001 ISBN 0-08043152-6, pages 27082709
[37] Design Standard for Rigid Printed Boards and Rigid
Printed Board Assemblies. IPC. September 1991. IPC4101.
[38] Specication for Base Materials for Rigid and Multilayer Printed Boards (IPC-4101). ANSI/IPC. December
1997. ANSI/IPC-D-275.
[39] David E. Weisberg. Chapter 14: Intergraph. 2008. p.
14-8.
[23] Soldering 101 A Basic Overview
[40] US 1256599
[24] IPC Publication IPC-TR-476A, Electrochemical Migration: Electrically Induced Failures in Printed Wiring Assemblies, Northbrook, IL, May 1997.
[41] Charles A. Harper, Electronic materials and processes

handbook, McGraw-Hill,2003 ISBN 0-07-140214-4,
pages 7.3 and 7.4
[25] S.Zhan, M. H. Azarian and M. Pecht, Reliability Issues

of No-Clean Flux Technology with Lead-free Solder Alloy for High Density Printed Circuit Boards, 38th International Symposium on Microelectronics, pp. 367375,
Philadelphia, PA, September 2529, 2005.
[42] Brunetti, Cledo (22 November 1948). New Advances

in Printed Circuits. Washington DC: National Bureau of
Standards.
[26] Clyde F. Coombs Printed Circuits Handbook McGraw

Hill Professional, 2007 ISBN 0-07-146734-3, pages 45
19
[27] liquid photoimageable solder masks (PDF). Coates Circuit Products. Retrieved 2 Sep 2012.
[28] Silk-screen and cure. Eurocircuits. Retrieved 31 Aug
2013.
[29] Towards a more rational silkscreen. Optimum Design
Associates. Retrieved 31 Aug 2013.
[43] IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award,

documents/brunetti_rl.pdf
http://www.ieee.org/
[44] Engineers Day, 1984 Award Recipients, College of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, http://www.
engr.wisc.edu/eday/eday1984.html
[45] US 2756485 assigned to US Army. July 31, 1956.
[46] Kraig Mitzner. Complete PCB Design Using OrCad
Capture and Layout. 2011.
[47] TINA PCB DesignManual.
94
9.9 External links

A collection of board & module construction techniques (Italian, 2 pp.)
PCB Fabrication Data - A Guide
The Gerber Format Specication
Chapter 10
Electric current
the eponymous Ampres force law, which he discovered
in 1820.[5] The notation travelled from France to Great
Britain, where it became standard, although at least one
journal did not change from using C to I until 1896.[6]
10.2 Conventions
Flow of positive charge

Flow of electrons
A simple electric circuit, where current is represented by the letter

i. The relationship between the voltage (V), resistance (R), and
current (I) is V=IR; this is known as Ohms Law.
An electric current is a ow of electric charge. In electric

circuits this charge is often carried by moving electrons in
a wire. It can also be carried by ions in an electrolyte, or
by both ions and electrons such as in a plasma.[1]
The SI unit for measuring an electric current is the
ampere, which is the ow of electric charge across a surface at the rate of one coulomb per second. Electric cur- The electrons, the charge carriers in an electrical circuit, ow in
the opposite direction of the conventional electric current.
rent is measured using a device called an ammeter.[2]
Electric currents cause Joule heating, which creates light
In metals, which make up the wires and other conductors
in incandescent light bulbs. They also create magnetic
in most electrical circuits, the positively charged atomic
elds, which are used in motors, inductors and generators.
nuclei are held in a xed position, and the electrons are
The particles that carry the charge in an electric current free to move, carrying their charge from one place to anare called charge carriers. In metals, one or more elec- other. In other materials, notably the semiconductors, the
trons from each atom are loosely bound to the atom, and charge carriers can be positive or negative, depending on
can move freely about within the metal. These conduction the dopant used. Positive and negative charge carriers
electrons are the charge carriers in metal conductors.
may even be present at the same time, as happens in an
electrochemical cell.
10.1 Symbol
A ow of positive charges gives the same electric current,

and has the same eect in a circuit, as an equal ow of
negative charges in the opposite direction. Since current
can be the ow of either positive or negative charges, or
both, a convention is needed for the direction of current
that is independent of the type of charge carriers. The
direction of conventional current is arbitrarily dened as
the same direction as positive charges ow.
The conventional symbol for current is I, which originates from the French phrase intensit de courant, or in
English current intensity.[3][4] This phrase is frequently
used when discussing the value of an electric current,
but modern practice often shortens this to simply current.
The I symbol was used by Andr-Marie Ampre, after The consequence of this convention is that electrons, the
whom the unit of electric current is named, in formulating charge carriers in metal wires and most other parts of
95
96
CHAPTER 10. ELECTRIC CURRENT
10.3 Ohms law

Main article: Ohms law
Ohms law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the
potential dierence across the two points. Introducing
the constant of proportionality, the resistance,[7] one arrives at the usual mathematical equation that describes
this relationship:[8]
I=
V
R
where I is the current through the conductor in units of

amperes, V is the potential dierence measured across
the conductor in units of volts, and R is the resistance of
the conductor in units of ohms. More specically, Ohms
law states that the R in this relation is constant, independent of the current.[9]
10.4 AC and DC
The symbol for a battery in a circuit diagram.
The abbreviations AC and DC are often used to mean

simply alternating and direct, as when they modify current or voltage.[10][11]
10.4.1 Direct current

electric circuits, ow in the opposite direction of convenMain article: Direct current
tional current ow in an electrical circuit.
10.2.1
Reference direction
Since the current in a wire or component can ow in either

direction, when a variable I is dened to represent that
current, the direction representing positive current must
be specied, usually by an arrow on the circuit schematic
diagram. This is called the reference direction of current I.
If the current ows in the opposite direction, the variable
I has a negative value.
When analyzing electrical circuits, the actual direction of
current through a specic circuit element is usually unknown. Consequently, the reference directions of currents are often assigned arbitrarily. When the circuit is
solved, a negative value for the variable means that the
actual direction of current through that circuit element is
opposite that of the chosen reference direction. In electronic circuits, the reference current directions are often
chosen so that all currents are toward ground. This often corresponds to the actual current direction, because
in many circuits the power supply voltage is positive with
respect to ground.
Direct current (DC) is the unidirectional ow of electric

charge. Direct current is produced by sources such as
batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutatortype electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may ow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also
ow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through
a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. The electric
charge ows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from
alternating current (AC). A term formerly used for direct
current was galvanic current.[12]
10.4.2 Alternating current

Main article: Alternating current
In alternating current (AC, also ac), the movement of
electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct
current (DC, also dc), the ow of electric charge is only
in one direction.
AC is the form of electric power delivered to businesses
and residences. The usual waveform of an AC power
circuit is a sine wave. Certain applications use dierent
10.8. ELECTROMAGNETISM
97
waveforms, such as triangular or square waves. Audio was proportional to the square of the current multiplied
and radio signals carried on electrical wires are also ex- by the electrical resistance of the wire.
amples of alternating current. An important goal in
these applications is recovery of information encoded (or
modulated) onto the AC signal.
Q I 2R
This relationship is known as Joules First Law. The
SI unit of energy was subsequently named the joule and
given the symbol J. The commonly known unit of power,
Natural observable examples of electrical current include the watt, is equivalent to one joule per second.
lightning, static electricity, and the solar wind, the source
of the polar auroras.
10.5 Occurrences
Man-made occurrences of electric current include the 10.8 Electromagnetism

ow of conduction electrons in metal wires such as the
overhead power lines that deliver electrical energy across
10.8.1 Electromagnet
long distances and the smaller wires within electrical and
electronic equipment. Eddy currents are electric currents
Main article: Electromagnet
that occur in conductors exposed to changing magnetic
Electric current produces a magnetic eld. The magnetic
elds. Similarly, electric currents occur, particularly in
the surface, of conductors exposed to electromagnetic
waves. When oscillating electric currents ow at the correct voltages within radio antennas, radio waves are generated.
In electronics, other forms of electric current include the
ow of electrons through resistors or through the vacuum
in a vacuum tube, the ow of ions inside a battery or a
neuron, and the ow of holes within a semiconductor.
10.6 Current measurement

Current can be measured using an ammeter.
At the circuit level, there are various techniques that can
be used to measure current:
Shunt resistors[13]
Hall eect current sensor transducers
Transformers (however DC cannot be measured)
According to Ampres law, an electric current produces a

magnetic eld.
Magnetoresistive eld sensors[14]
10.7 Resistive heating
eld can be visualized as a pattern of circular eld lines

surrounding the wire that persists as long as there is current.
Magnetism can also produce electric currents. When

a changing magnetic eld is applied to a conductor, an
Electromotive force (EMF) is produced, and when there
Joule heating, also known as ohmic heating and resistive is a suitable path, this causes current.
heating, is the process by which the passage of an elec- Electric current can be directly measured with a
tric current through a conductor releases heat. It was rst galvanometer, but this method involves breaking the
studied by James Prescott Joule in 1841. Joule immersed electrical circuit, which is sometimes inconvenient. Cura length of wire in a xed mass of water and measured rent can also be measured without breaking the circuit by
the temperature rise due to a known current through the detecting the magnetic eld associated with the current.
wire for a 30 minute period. By varying the current and Devices used for this include Hall eect sensors, current
the length of the wire he deduced that the heat produced clamps, current transformers, and Rogowski coils.
Main article: Joule heating
98
10.8.2
Radio waves
surface at an equal rate. As George Gamow wrote in his

popular science book, One, Two, Three...Innity (1947),
The metallic substances dier from all other materials
Main article: Radio waves
by the fact that the outer shells of their atoms are bound
rather loosely, and often let one of their electrons go free.
When an electric current ows in a suitably shaped conThus the interior of a metal is lled up with a large numductor at radio frequencies radio waves can be generated.
ber of unattached electrons that travel aimlessly around
These travel at the speed of light and can cause electric
like a crowd of displaced persons. When a metal wire
currents in distant conductors.
is subjected to electric force applied on its opposite ends,
these free electrons rush in the direction of the force, thus
forming what we call an electric current.
10.9 Conduction mechanisms in

various media
When a metal wire is connected across the two terminals of a DC voltage source such as a battery, the source
places an electric eld across the conductor. The moment
contact is made, the free electrons of the conductor are
Main article: Electrical conductivity
forced to drift toward the positive terminal under the inuence of this eld. The free electrons are therefore the
In metallic solids, electric charge ows by means of charge carrier in a typical solid conductor.
electrons, from lower to higher electrical potential. In
other media, any stream of charged objects (ions, for ex- For a steady ow of charge through a surface, the curample) may constitute an electric current. To provide a rent I (in amperes) can be calculated with the following
denition of current independent of the type of charge equation:
carriers, conventional current is dened as moving in the
same direction as the positive charge ow. So, in metals
where the charge carriers (electrons) are negative, con- I = Q ,
t
ventional current is in the opposite direction as the electrons. In conductors where the charge carriers are positive, conventional current is in the same direction as the where Q is the electric charge transferred through the surface over a time t. If Q and t are measured in coulombs
charge carriers.
and seconds respectively, I is in amperes.
In a vacuum, a beam of ions or electrons may be formed.
In other conductive materials, the electric current is due More generally, electric current can be represented as the
to the ow of both positively and negatively charged parti- rate at which charge ows through a given surface as:
cles at the same time. In still others, the current is entirely
due to positive charge ow. For example, the electric currents in electrolytes are ows of positively and negatively I = dQ .
dt
charged ions. In a common lead-acid electrochemical
cell, electric currents are composed of positive hydrogen
ions (protons) owing in one direction, and negative sulfate ions owing in the other. Electric currents in sparks 10.9.2 Electrolytes
or plasma are ows of electrons as well as positive and
negative ions. In ice and in certain solid electrolytes, the Main article: Conductivity (electrolytic)
electric current is entirely composed of owing ions.
Electric currents in electrolytes are ows of electrically
charged particles (ions). For example, if an electric eld
10.9.1 Metals
is placed across a solution of Na+ and Cl (and conditions
are right) the sodium ions move towards the negative elecA solid conductive metal contains mobile, or free electrode (cathode), while the chloride ions move towards the
trons, which function as conduction electrons. These positive electrode (anode). Reactions take place at both
electrons are bound to the metal lattice but no longer to electrode surfaces, absorbing each ion.
an individual atom. Metals are particularly conductive
because there are a large number of these free electrons, Water-ice and certain solid electrolytes called proton contypically one per atom in the lattice. Even with no ex- ductors contain positive hydrogen ions ("protons") that
ternal electric eld applied, these electrons move about are mobile. In these materials, electric currents are comrandomly due to thermal energy but, on average, there is posed of moving protons, as opposed to the moving eleczero net current within the metal. At room temperature, trons in metals.
the average speed of these random motions is 106 me- In certain electrolyte mixtures, brightly coloured ions are
tres per second.[15] Given a surface through which a metal the moving electric charges. The slow progress of the
wire passes, electrons move in both directions across the colour makes the current visible.[16]
10.9. CONDUCTION MECHANISMS IN VARIOUS MEDIA
10.9.3
Gases and plasmas
99
10.9.5 Superconductivity
In air and other ordinary gases below the breakdown eld,

the dominant source of electrical conduction is via relatively few mobile ions produced by radioactive gases,
ultraviolet light, or cosmic rays. Since the electrical
conductivity is low, gases are dielectrics or insulators.
However, once the applied electric eld approaches the
breakdown value, free electrons become suciently accelerated by the electric eld to create additional free
electrons by colliding, and ionizing, neutral gas atoms or
molecules in a process called avalanche breakdown. The
breakdown process forms a plasma that contains enough
mobile electrons and positive ions to make it an electrical conductor. In the process, it forms a light emitting
conductive path, such as a spark, arc or lightning.
Main article: Superconductivity
Since a "perfect vacuum" contains no charged particles, it

normally behaves as a perfect insulator. However, metal
electrode surfaces can cause a region of the vacuum to
become conductive by injecting free electrons or ions
through either eld electron emission or thermionic emission. Thermionic emission occurs when the thermal energy exceeds the metals work function, while eld electron emission occurs when the electric eld at the surface
of the metal is high enough to cause tunneling, which
results in the ejection of free electrons from the metal
into the vacuum. Externally heated electrodes are often
used to generate an electron cloud as in the lament or
indirectly heated cathode of vacuum tubes. Cold electrodes can also spontaneously produce electron clouds
via thermionic emission when small incandescent regions
(called cathode spots or anode spots) are formed. These
are incandescent regions of the electrode surface that are
created by a localized high current. These regions may
be initiated by eld electron emission, but are then sustained by localized thermionic emission once a vacuum
arc forms. These small electron-emitting regions can
form quite rapidly, even explosively, on a metal surface
subjected to a high electrical eld. Vacuum tubes and
sprytrons are some of the electronic switching and amplifying devices based on vacuum conductivity.
In the classic crystalline semiconductors, electrons can

have energies only within certain bands (i.e. ranges of
levels of energy). Energetically, these bands are located
between the energy of the ground state, the state in which
electrons are tightly bound to the atomic nuclei of the material, and the free electron energy, the latter describing
the energy required for an electron to escape entirely from
the material. The energy bands each correspond to a large
number of discrete quantum states of the electrons, and
most of the states with low energy (closer to the nucleus)
are occupied, up to a particular band called the valence
band. Semiconductors and insulators are distinguished
from metals because the valence band in any given metal
is nearly lled with electrons under usual operating conditions, while very few (semiconductor) or virtually none
(insulator) of them are available in the conduction band,
the band immediately above the valence band.
Superconductivity is a phenomenon of exactly zero

electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic elds occurring in certain materials when cooled below a characteristic critical temperature. It was discovered by Heike
Kamerlingh Onnes on April 8, 1911 in Leiden. Like
ferromagnetism and atomic spectral lines, superconductivity is a quantum mechanical phenomenon. It is characterized by the Meissner eect, the complete ejection of
magnetic eld lines from the interior of the superconductor as it transitions into the superconducting state. The
occurrence of the Meissner eect indicates that superconductivity cannot be understood simply as the idealPlasma is the state of matter where some of the electrons ization of perfect conductivity in classical physics.
in a gas are stripped or ionized from their molecules or
atoms. A plasma can be formed by high temperature, or
by application of a high electric or alternating magnetic 10.9.6 Semiconductor
eld as noted above. Due to their lower mass, the electrons in a plasma accelerate more quickly in response to Main article: Semiconductor
an electric eld than the heavier positive ions, and hence
carry the bulk of the current. The free ions recombine
In a semiconductor it is sometimes useful to think of the
to create new chemical compounds (for example, breakcurrent as due to the ow of positive "holes" (the mobile
ing atmospheric oxygen into single oxygen [O2 2O],
positive charge carriers that are places where the semiwhich then recombine creating ozone [O3 ]).[17]
conductor crystal is missing a valence electron). This is
the case in a p-type semiconductor. A semiconductor
has electrical conductivity intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a
10.9.4 Vacuum
conductivity roughly in the range of 102 to 104 siemens
per centimeter (Scm1 ).
The ease of exciting electrons in the semiconductor from

the valence band to the conduction band depends on the
band gap between the bands. The size of this energy band
gap serves as an arbitrary dividing line (roughly 4 eV)
between semiconductors and insulators.
With covalent bonds, an electron moves by hopping to a
neighboring bond. The Pauli exclusion principle requires
100
that the electron be lifted into the higher anti-bonding

state of that bond. For delocalized states, for example
in one dimension that is in a nanowire, for every energy
there is a state with electrons owing in one direction and
another state with the electrons owing in the other. For
a net current to ow, more states for one direction than
for the other direction must be occupied. For this to occur, energy is required, as in the semiconductor the next
higher states lie above the band gap. Often this is stated
as: full bands do not contribute to the electrical conductivity. However, as a semiconductors temperature rises
above absolute zero, there is more energy in the semiconductor to spend on lattice vibration and on exciting
electrons into the conduction band. The current-carrying
electrons in the conduction band are known as free electrons, though they are often simply called electrons if that
is clear in context.
10.10 Current density and Ohms

law
Main article: Current density
Current density is a measure of the density of an electric
current. It is dened as a vector whose magnitude is the
electric current per cross-sectional area. In SI units, the
current density is measured in amperes per square metre.
I=
to diusion constant D and charge density q . The current density is then:
J = E + Dqn,
with q being the elementary charge and n the electron
density. The carriers move in the direction of decreasing
concentration, so for electrons a positive current results
for a positive density gradient. If the carriers are holes,
replace electron density n by the negative of the hole density p .
In linear anisotropic materials, , and D are tensors.
In linear materials such as metals, and under low frequencies, the current density across the conductor surface is
uniform. In such conditions, Ohms law states that the
current is directly proportional to the potential dierence
between two ends (across) of that metal (ideal) resistor
(or other ohmic device):
I=
V
,
R
where I is the current, measured in amperes; V is the

potential dierence, measured in volts; and R is the
resistance, measured in ohms. For alternating currents,
especially at higher frequencies, skin eect causes the
current to spread unevenly across the conductor crosssection, with higher density near the surface, thus increasing the apparent resistance.
J dA
where I is current in the conductor, J is the current

is the dierential cross-sectional area
density, and dA
vector.
The current density (current per unit area) J in materials with nite resistance is directly proportional to the
in the medium. The proportionality conelectric eld E
stant is called the conductivity of the material, whose
value depends on the material concerned and, in general,
is dependent on the temperature of the material:
10.11 Drift speed

The mobile charged particles within a conductor move
constantly in random directions, like the particles of a
gas. To create a net ow of charge, the particles must
also move together with an average drift rate. Electrons
are the charge carriers in metals and they follow an erratic
path, bouncing from atom to atom, but generally drifting
in the opposite direction of the electric eld. The speed
they drift at can be calculated from the equation:
J = E
I = nAvQ ,
The reciprocal of the conductivity of the material is
called the resistivity of the material and the above where
equation, when written in terms of resistivity becomes:
I is the electric current
E
J =
n is number of charged particles per unit volume (or charge carrier density)
= J
E
A is the cross-sectional area of the conductor
Conduction in semiconductor devices may occur by a

combination of drift and diusion, which is proportional
v is the drift velocity, and

Q is the charge on each particle.
10.13. REFERENCES
Typically, electric charges in solids ow slowly. For example, in a copper wire of cross-section 0.5 mm2 , carrying a current of 5 A, the drift velocity of the electrons is
on the order of a millimetre per second. To take a different example, in the near-vacuum inside a cathode ray
tube, the electrons travel in near-straight lines at about a
tenth of the speed of light.
Any accelerating electric charge, and therefore any
changing electric current, gives rise to an electromagnetic
wave that propagates at very high speed outside the surface of the conductor. This speed is usually a signicant
fraction of the speed of light, as can be deduced from
Maxwells Equations, and is therefore many times faster
than the drift velocity of the electrons. For example,
in AC power lines, the waves of electromagnetic energy
propagate through the space between the wires, moving
from a source to a distant load, even though the electrons
in the wires only move back and forth over a tiny distance.
The ratio of the speed of the electromagnetic wave to the
speed of light in free space is called the velocity factor,
and depends on the electromagnetic properties of the conductor and the insulating materials surrounding it, and on
their shape and size.
101
10.13 References
[1] Anthony C. Fischer-Cripps (2004). The electronics companion. CRC Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-7503-1012-3.
[2] Lakatos, John; Oenoki, Keiji; Judez, Hector; Oenoki,
Kazushi; Hyun Kyu Cho (March 1998). Learn Physics
Today!". Lima, Peru: Colegio Dr. Franklin D. Roosevelt.
[3] T. L. Lowe, John Rounce, Calculations for A-level Physics,
p. 2, Nelson Thornes, 2002 ISBN 0-7487-6748-7.
[4] Howard M. Berlin, Frank C. Getz, Principles of Electronic
Instrumentation and Measurement, p. 37, Merrill Pub.
Co., 1988 ISBN 0-675-20449-6.
[5] A-M Ampre, Recuil d'Observations lectro-dynamiques,
p. 56, Paris: Chez Crochard Libraire 1822 (in French).
[6] Electric Power, vol. 6, p. 411, 1894.
[7] Consoliver, Earl L., and Mitchell, Grover I. (1920).
Automotive ignition systems. McGraw-Hill. p. 4.
[8] Robert A. Millikan and E. S. Bishop (1917). Elements of
Electricity. American Technical Society. p. 54.
The magnitudes (but, not the natures) of these three ve- [9] Oliver Heaviside (1894). Electrical papers 1. Macmillan
and Co. p. 283. ISBN 0-8218-2840-1.
locities can be illustrated by an analogy with the three
similar velocities associated with gases.
[10] N. N. Bhargava and D. C. Kulshreshtha (1983). Basic
The low drift velocity of charge carriers is analogous
to air motion; in other words, winds.
The high speed of electromagnetic waves is roughly
analogous to the speed of sound in a gas (these waves
move through the medium much faster than any individual particles do)
The random motion of charges is analogous to heat
the thermal velocity of randomly vibrating gas particles.
10.12 See also

Current 3-vector
Direct current
Electric shock
Electrical measurements
History of electrical engineering
Electronics & Linear Circuits. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-07-451965-3.
[11] National Electric Light Association (1915). Electrical metermans handbook. Trow Press. p. 81.
[12] Andrew J. Robinson, Lynn Snyder-Mackler (2007).
Clinical Electrophysiology: Electrotherapy and Electrophysiologic Testing (3rd ed.). Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7817-4484-3.
[13] What is a Current Sensor and How is it Used?. Focus.ti.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-22.
[14] Andreas P. Friedrich, Helmuth Lemme The Universal
Current Sensor. Sensorsmag.com (2000-05-01). Retrieved on 2011-12-22.
[15] The Mechanism Of Conduction In Metals, Think Quest.
[16] Rudolf Holze, Experimental Electrochemistry: A Laboratory Textbook, page 44, John Wiley & Sons, 2009 ISBN
3527310983.
[17] Lab Note #106 Environmental Impact of Arc Suppression". Arc Suppression Technologies. April 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
10.14 External links
Hydraulic analogy
International System of Quantities
SI electromagnetism units
Allaboutcircuits.com, a useful site introducing electricity and electronics
Chapter 11
Integrated circuit
Silicon chip redirects here. For the electronics magazine, see Silicon Chip.
Microchip redirects here.
For other uses, see
Microchip (disambiguation).
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated cir-
Synthetic detail of an integrated circuit through four layers of

planarized copper interconnect, down to the polysilicon (pink),
wells (greyish), and substrate (green)
of semiconductor material, normally silicon. This can be

made much smaller than a discrete circuit made from inErasable programmable read-only memory integrated circuits. dependent electronic components. ICs can be made very
These packages have a transparent window that shows the die
compact, having up to several billion transistors and other
inside. The window allows the memory to be erased by exposing
electronic components in an area the size of a ngernail.
the chip to ultraviolet light.
The width of each conducting line in a circuit can be made
smaller and smaller as the technology advances; in 2008
it dropped below 100 nanometers,[1] and now is tens of
nanometers.[2]
ICs were made possible by experimental discoveries
showing that semiconductor devices could perform the
functions of vacuum tubes and by mid-20th-century technology advancements in semiconductor device fabrication. The integration of large numbers of tiny transistors
into a small chip was an enormous improvement over
the manual assembly of circuits using discrete electronic
components. The integrated circuits mass production capability, reliability and building-block approach to circuit
design ensured the rapid adoption of standardized integrated circuits in place of designs using discrete transisIntegrated circuit from an EPROM memory microchip showing tors.
the memory blocks, the supporting circuitry and the ne silver
wires which connect the integrated circuit die to the legs of the
packaging.
ICs have two main advantages over discrete circuits:

cost and performance. Cost is low because the chips,
with all their components, are printed as a unit by
cuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) photolithography rather than being constructed one tranis a set of electronic circuits on one small plate (chip) sistor at a time. Furthermore, packaged ICs use much
102
11.2. INVENTION
103
less material than discrete circuits. Performance is high

because the ICs components switch quickly and consume
little power (compared to their discrete counterparts) as
a result of the small size and close proximity of the components. As of 2012, typical chip areas range from a few
square millimeters to around 450 mm2 , with up to 9 million transistors per mm2 .
component. Components could then be integrated and

wired into a bidimensional or tridimensional compact
grid. This idea, which seemed very promising in 1957,
was proposed to the US Army by Jack Kilby and led to
the short-lived Micromodule Program (similar to 1951s
Project Tinkertoy).[9] However, as the project was gaining momentum, Kilby came up with a new, revolutionary
Integrated circuits are used in virtually all electronic design: the IC.
equipment today and have revolutionized the world of
electronics. Computers, mobile phones, and other digital
home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the low cost
of integrated circuits.
11.1 Terminology
An integrated circuit is dened as:[3]
A circuit in which all or some of the circuit
elements are inseparably associated and electrically interconnected so that it is considered
to be indivisible for the purposes of construction and commerce.
Jack Kilby's original integrated circuit
Circuits meeting this denition can be constructed using

many dierent technologies, including thin-lm transistor, thick lm technology, or hybrid integrated circuit.
However, in general usage integrated circuit has come
Newly employed by Texas Instruments, Kilby recorded
to refer to the single-piece circuit construction originally
his initial ideas concerning the integrated circuit in July
[4][5]
known as a monolithic integrated circuit.
1958, successfully demonstrating the rst working integrated example on 12 September 1958.[10] In his patent
application of 6 February 1959,[11] Kilby described his
11.2 Invention
new device as a body of semiconductor material
wherein all the components of the electronic circuit are
Main article: Invention of the integrated circuit
completely integrated.[12] The rst customer for the new
invention was the US Air Force.[13]
Early developments of the integrated circuit go back to
1949, when German engineer Werner Jacobi (Siemens
AG)[6] led a patent for an integrated-circuit-like semiconductor amplifying device[7] showing ve transistors on
a common substrate in a 3-stage amplier arrangement.
Jacobi disclosed small and cheap hearing aids as typical
industrial applications of his patent. An immediate commercial use of his patent has not been reported.
Kilby won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his part in
the invention of the integrated circuit.[14] His work was
named an IEEE Milestone in 2009.[15]
Half a year after Kilby, Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor developed his own idea of an integrated circuit that solved many practical problems Kilbys had not.
Noyces design was made of silicon, whereas Kilbys chip
was made of germanium. Noyce credited Kurt Lehovec
The idea of the integrated circuit was conceived by of Sprague Electric for the principle of pn junction isoGeorey W.A. Dummer (19092002), a radar scien- lation caused by the action of a biased pn junction (the
tist working for the Royal Radar Establishment of the diode) as a key concept behind the IC.[16]
British Ministry of Defence. Dummer presented the idea Fairchild Semiconductor was also home of the rst
to the public at the Symposium on Progress in Quality silicon-gate IC technology with self-aligned gates, the
Electronic Components in Washington, D.C. on 7 May basis of all modern CMOS computer chips. The tech1952.[8] He gave many symposia publicly to propagate nology was developed by Italian physicist Federico Faghis ideas, and unsuccessfully attempted to build such a gin in 1968, who later joined Intel in order to develop
circuit in 1956.
the very rst single-chip Central Processing Unit (CPU)
A precursor idea to the IC was to create small ceramic (Intel 4004), for which he received the National Medal of
squares (wafers), each containing a single miniaturized Technology and Innovation in 2010.
104
CHAPTER 11. INTEGRATED CIRCUIT
11.3 Generations
chips, and the rst microprocessors, that began to be

manufactured in moderate quantities in the early 1970s,
had under 4000 transistors. True LSI circuits, approaching 10,000 transistors, began to be produced
around 1974, for computer main memories and secondgeneration microprocessors.
In the early days of simple integrated circuits, the technologys large scale limited each chip to only a few transistors, and the low degree of integration meant the design
process was relatively simple. Manufacturing yields were
also quite low by todays standards. As the technology
progressed, millions, then billions[17] of transistors could
be placed on one chip, and good designs required thor- 11.3.2
ough planning, giving rise to new design methods.
11.3.1
SSI, MSI and LSI
VLSI
Main article: Very-large-scale integration

The nal step in the development process, starting in
The rst integrated circuits contained only a few transistors. Called small-scale integration (SSI), digital circuits containing transistors numbering in the tens provided a few logic gates for example, while early linear
ICs such as the Plessey SL201 or the Philips TAA320
had as few as two transistors. The term Large Scale Integration was rst used by IBM scientist Rolf Landauer
when describing the theoretical concept, from there came
the terms for SSI, MSI, VLSI, and ULSI.
SSI circuits were crucial to early aerospace projects, and
aerospace projects helped inspire development of the
technology. Both the Minuteman missile and Apollo program needed lightweight digital computers for their inertial guidance systems; the Apollo guidance computer led
and motivated the integrated-circuit technology,[20] while
the Minuteman missile forced it into mass-production.
The Minuteman missile program and various other Navy
programs accounted for the total $4 million integrated
circuit market in 1962, and by 1968, U.S. Government
space and defense spending still accounted for 37% of
the $312 million total production. The demand by the
U.S. Government supported the nascent integrated circuit
market until costs fell enough to allow rms to penetrate
the industrial and eventually the consumer markets. The
average price per integrated circuit dropped from $50.00
in 1962 to $2.33 in 1968.[21] Integrated circuits began to
appear in consumer products by the turn of the decade, a
typical application being FM inter-carrier sound processing in television receivers.
The next step in the development of integrated circuits, taken in the late 1960s, introduced devices which
contained hundreds of transistors on each chip, called
medium-scale integration (MSI).
Upper interconnect layers on an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor

die
the 1980s and continuing through the present, was verylarge-scale integration (VLSI). The development started
with hundreds of thousands of transistors in the early
1980s, and continues beyond several billion transistors as
of 2009.
Multiple developments were required to achieve this increased density. Manufacturers moved to smaller design rules and cleaner fabrication facilities, so that they
could make chips with more transistors and maintain adequate yield. The path of process improvements was summarized by the International Technology Roadmap for
Semiconductors (ITRS). Design tools improved enough
to make it practical to nish these designs in a reasonable
time. The more energy-ecient CMOS replaced NMOS
and PMOS, avoiding a prohibitive increase in power consumption.
They were attractive economically because while they

cost little more to produce than SSI devices, they allowed
more complex systems to be produced using smaller circuit boards, less assembly work (because of fewer sepaIn 1986 the rst one-megabit RAM chips were introrate components), and a number of other advantages.
duced, containing more than one million transistors. MiFurther development, driven by the same economic fac- croprocessor chips passed the million-transistor mark in
tors, led to large-scale integration (LSI) in the mid- 1989 and the billion-transistor mark in 2005.[22] The
1970s, with tens of thousands of transistors per chip.
trend continues largely unabated, with chips introduced in
Integrated circuits such as 1K-bit RAMs, calculator 2007 containing tens of billions of memory transistors.[23]
11.5. COMPUTER ASSISTED DESIGN
11.3.3
ULSI, WSI, SOC and 3D-IC
To reect further growth of the complexity, the term

ULSI that stands for ultra-large-scale integration was
proposed for chips of more than 1 million transistors.[24]
105
microprocessors or "cores", which control everything
from computers and cellular phones to digital microwave
ovens. Digital memory chips and application-specic integrated circuits (ASICs) are examples of other families
of integrated circuits that are important to the modern
information society. While the cost of designing and developing a complex integrated circuit is quite high, when
spread across typically millions of production units the
individual IC cost is minimized. The performance of ICs
is high because the small size allows short traces which in
turn allows low power logic (such as CMOS) to be used
at fast switching speeds.
Wafer-scale integration (WSI) is a means of building very

large integrated circuits that uses an entire silicon wafer to
produce a single super-chip. Through a combination of
large size and reduced packaging, WSI could lead to dramatically reduced costs for some systems, notably massively parallel supercomputers. The name is taken from
the term Very-Large-Scale Integration, the current state
ICs have consistently migrated to smaller feature sizes
of the art when WSI was being developed.[25]
over the years, allowing more circuitry to be packed on
A system-on-a-chip (SoC or SOC) is an integrated cireach chip. This increased capacity per unit area can
cuit in which all the components needed for a computer
be used to decrease cost or increase functionalitysee
or other system are included on a single chip. The design
Moores law which, in its modern interpretation, states
of such a device can be complex and costly, and buildthat the number of transistors in an integrated circuit
ing disparate components on a single piece of silicon may
doubles every two years. In general, as the feature size
compromise the eciency of some elements. However,
shrinks, almost everything improvesthe cost per unit
these drawbacks are oset by lower manufacturing and
and the switching power consumption go down, and the
assembly costs and by a greatly reduced power budget:
speed goes up. However, ICs with nanometer-scale debecause signals among the components are kept on-die,
vices are not without their problems, principal among
[26]
much less power is required (see Packaging).
which is leakage current (see subthreshold leakage for
A three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D-IC) has two a discussion of this), although innovations in high- dior more layers of active electronic components that are electrics aim to solve these problems. Since these speed
integrated both vertically and horizontally into a single and power consumption gains are apparent to the end
circuit. Communication between layers uses on-die sig- user, there is erce competition among the manufacturnaling, so power consumption is much lower than in ers to use ner geometries. This process, and the exequivalent separate circuits. Judicious use of short verti- pected progress over the next few years, is described by
cal wires can substantially reduce overall wire length for the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconducfaster operation.[27]
tors (ITRS).
11.4 Advances in integrated circuits
In current research projects, integrated circuits are also

developed for sensoric applications in medical implants
or other bioelectronic devices. Particular sealing strategies have to be taken in such biogenic environments to
avoid corrosion or biodegradation of the exposed semiconductor materials.[28] As one of the few materials well
established in CMOS technology, titanium nitride (TiN)
turned out as exceptionally stable and well suited for electrode applications in medical implants.[29][30]
11.5 Computer assisted design

Main articles: Electronic design automation and
Hardware description language
11.6 Classication
The die from an Intel 8742, an 8-bit microcontroller that includes
a CPU running at 12 MHz, 128 bytes of RAM, 2048 bytes of
EPROM, and I/O in the same chip
Integrated circuits can be classied into analog, digital

and mixed signal (both analog and digital on the same
chip).
Among the most advanced integrated circuits are the Digital integrated circuits can contain anywhere from
106
A CMOS 4511 IC in a DIP
one to millions of logic gates, ip-ops, multiplexers,

and other circuits in a few square millimeters. The
small size of these circuits allows high speed, low power
dissipation, and reduced manufacturing cost compared
with board-level integration. These digital ICs, typically
microprocessors, DSPs, and microcontrollers, work using binary mathematics to process one and zero sig- Rendering of a small standard cell with three metal layers
(dielectric has been removed). The sand-colored structures are
nals.
metal interconnect, with the vertical pillars being contacts, typ-
ICs can also combine analog and digital circuits on a single chip to create functions such as A/D converters and
D/A converters. Such mixed-signal circuits oer smaller
size and lower cost, but must carefully account for signal
interference.
back-end /
"Advanced Packaging"
Analog ICs, such as sensors, power management circuits, ically plugs of tungsten. The reddish structures are polysilicon
and operational ampliers, work by processing continu- gates, and the solid at the bottom is the crystalline silicon bulk.
ous signals. They perform functions like amplication,
Legend:
active ltering, demodulation, and mixing. Analog ICs
ease the burden on circuit designers by having expertly
designed analog circuits available instead of designing a
dicult analog circuit from scratch.
lead-free
solder bump
Cr, Cu and Au liners
seal layer (nitride or oxide)

PSG
SiN seal layer

Cu 5
Cu 5
Modern electronic component distributors often further

sub-categorize the huge variety of integrated circuits now
available:
Cu 4
11.7 Manufacturing
11.7.1
Fabrication
Main article: Semiconductor fabrication

The semiconductors of the periodic table of the chemical
SOD
Cu 4
Cu 4
Ta/TaN barrier layer
SiC etch stop layer
Cu 3
SiC etch stop layer
Cu 2
Cu 2
Cu 2
SOD
PE-TEOS
SOD
Cu1
SOD
SiC seal layer
SiN barrier
layer
poly-Si gate
FEOL
front-end
mixed-signal integrated circuits are further subcategorized as data acquisition ICs (including A/D
converters, D/A converter, digital potentiometers)
and clock/timing ICs.
BEOL
Digital ICs are further sub-categorized as logic

ICs, memory chips, interface ICs (level shifters,
serializer/deserializer, etc.), Power Management
ICs, and programmable devices.
Analog ICs are further sub-categorized as linear ICs
and RF ICs.
Silicon (Si)
n-Si
p-Si
Polysilicon (Poly-Si)
Undoped silicon glass (USG, SiO2)
Silicon dioxide (TEOS oxide, SiO2)
Cobalt disilicide (CoSi2)
Spin-on dielectric (SOD)
Phosphor-silicate glass (PSG)
Tungsten (W)
Copper (Cu)
Silicon nitride (SiN)
Silicon nitride (SiN)
Silicon carbide (SiC)
PSG
USG
tungsten
n-Si
n-Si
p-well
CoSi2
p-Si
p-Si
USG
n-well
STI
spacer
buried SiO2
p-silicon wafer
Schematic structure of a CMOS chip, as built in the early 2000s.

The graphic shows LDD-MISFETs on an SOI substrate with ve
metallization layers and solder bump for ip-chip bonding. It
also shows the section for FEOL (front-end of line), BEOL (backend of line) and rst parts of back-end process.
11.7. MANUFACTURING
107
elements were identied as the most likely materials for a

solid-state vacuum tube. Starting with copper oxide, proceeding to germanium, then silicon, the materials were
systematically studied in the 1940s and 1950s. Today,
monocrystalline silicon is the main substrate used for ICs
although some III-V compounds of the periodic table
such as gallium arsenide are used for specialized applications like LEDs, lasers, solar cells and the highest-speed
integrated circuits. It took decades to perfect methods of
creating crystals without defects in the crystalline structure of the semiconducting material.
A random access memory is the most regular type of integrated circuit; the highest density devices are thus memories; but even a microprocessor will have memory on
the chip. (See the regular array structure at the bottom
of the rst image.) Although the structures are intricate
with widths which have been shrinking for decades
the layers remain much thinner than the device widths.
The layers of material are fabricated much like a photographic process, although light waves in the visible spectrum cannot be used to expose a layer of material, as
they would be too large for the features. Thus photons
Semiconductor ICs are fabricated in a layer process which of higher frequencies (typically ultraviolet) are used to
create the patterns for each layer. Because each feature
includes three key process steps imaging, deposition
and etching. The main process steps are supplemented is so small, electron microscopes are essential tools for a
process engineer who might be debugging a fabrication
by doping and cleaning.
process.
Mono-crystal silicon wafers (or for special applications,
silicon on sapphire or gallium arsenide wafers) are used as Each device is tested before packaging using automated
the substrate. Photolithography is used to mark dierent test equipment (ATE), in a process known as wafer testareas of the substrate to be doped or to have polysilicon, ing, or wafer probing. The wafer is then cut into rectaninsulators or metal (typically aluminium) tracks deposited gular blocks, each of which is called a die. Each good
die (plural dice, dies, or die) is then connected into a
on them.
package using aluminium (or gold) bond wires which are
thermosonically bonded[31] to pads, usually found around
Integrated circuits are composed of many overlap- the edge of the die. . Thermosonic bonding was rst
ping layers, each dened by photolithography, and introduced by A. Coucoulas which provided a reliable
normally shown in dierent colors. Some lay- means of forming these vital electrical connections to the
ers mark where various dopants are diused into outside world. After packaging, the devices go through the substrate (called diusion layers), some dene nal testing on the same or similar ATE used during wafer
where additional ions are implanted (implant lay- probing. Industrial CT scanning can also be used. Test
ers), some dene the conductors (polysilicon or cost can account for over 25% of the cost of fabricametal layers), and some dene the connections be- tion on lower-cost products, but can be negligible on lowtween the conducting layers (via or contact lay- yielding, larger, or higher-cost devices.
ers). All components are constructed from a specic
As of 2005, a fabrication facility (commonly known
combination of these layers.
as a semiconductor fab) costs over US$1 billion to
In a self-aligned CMOS process, a transistor is construct.[32] The cost of a fabrication facility rises over
formed wherever the gate layer (polysilicon or time (Rocks law) because much of the operation is automated. Today, the most advanced processes employ the
metal) crosses a diusion layer.
following techniques:
Capacitive structures, in form very much like the
parallel conducting plates of a traditional electrical
The wafers are up to 300 mm in diameter (wider
capacitor, are formed according to the area of the
than a common dinner plate).
plates, with insulating material between the plates.
Capacitors of a wide range of sizes are common on
Use of 32 nanometer or smaller chip manufacturing
ICs.
process. Intel, IBM, NEC, and AMD are using ~32
nanometers for their CPU chips. IBM and AMD
Meandering stripes of varying lengths are someintroduced immersion lithography for their 45 nm
times used to form on-chip resistors, though most
processes[33]
logic circuits do not need any resistors. The ratio
of the length of the resistive structure to its width,
Copper interconnects where copper wiring replaces
combined with its sheet resistivity, determines the
aluminium for interconnects.
resistance.
More rarely, inductive structures can be built as tiny
on-chip coils, or simulated by gyrators.
Low-K dielectric insulators.

Silicon on insulator (SOI)
Since a CMOS device only draws current on the transition

between logic states, CMOS devices consume much less
current than bipolar devices.
Strained silicon in a process used by IBM known as

strained silicon directly on insulator (SSDOI)
108
Multigate devices such as tri-gate transistors being conned to the die periphery.
manufactured by Intel from 2011 in their 22 nm pro- Traces out of the die, through the package, and into the
cess.
printed circuit board have very dierent electrical properties, compared to on-chip signals. They require special
design techniques and need much more electric power
11.7.2 Packaging
than signals conned to the chip itself.
Main article: Integrated circuit packaging
When multiple dies are put in one package, it is called
The earliest integrated circuits were packaged in ceramic SiP, for System In Package. When multiple dies are combined on a small substrate, often ceramic, its called an
MCM, or Multi-Chip Module. The distinction between
a big MCM and a small printed circuit board is sometimes
fuzzy.
11.7.3 Chip labeling and manufacture

date
A Soviet MSI nMOS chip made in 1977, part of a four-chip calculator set designed in 1970[34]
at packs, which continued to be used by the military for

their reliability and small size for many years. Commercial circuit packaging quickly moved to the dual in-line
package (DIP), rst in ceramic and later in plastic. In the
1980s pin counts of VLSI circuits exceeded the practical
limit for DIP packaging, leading to pin grid array (PGA)
and leadless chip carrier (LCC) packages. Surface mount
packaging appeared in the early 1980s and became popular in the late 1980s, using ner lead pitch with leads
formed as either gull-wing or J-lead, as exemplied by
small-outline integrated circuit a carrier which occupies an area about 3050% less than an equivalent DIP,
with a typical thickness that is 70% less. This package
has gull wing leads protruding from the two long sides
and a lead spacing of 0.050 inches.
Most integrated circuits large enough to include identifying information include four common sections: the manufacturers name or logo, the part number, a part production batch number and serial number, and a four-digit
code that identies when the chip was manufactured. Extremely small surface mount technology parts often bear
only a number used in a manufacturers lookup table to
nd the chip characteristics.
The manufacturing date is commonly represented as a
two-digit year followed by a two-digit week code, such
that a part bearing the code 8341 was manufactured in
week 41 of 1983, or approximately in October 1983.
11.8 Intellectual property

Main article: Integrated circuit layout design protection
The possibility of copying by photographing each layer
of an integrated circuit and preparing photomasks for its
production on the basis of the photographs obtained is the
main reason for the introduction of legislation for the protection of layout-designs.The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act (SCPA) of 1984 established a new type of
intellectual property protection for mask works that are
xed in semiconductor chips. It did so by amending title
17 of the United States chapter 9 [35]
In the late 1990s, plastic quad at pack (PQFP) and thin

small-outline package (TSOP) packages became the most
common for high pin count devices, though PGA packages are still often used for high-end microprocessors.
Intel and AMD are currently transitioning from PGA
packages on high-end microprocessors to land grid array
A diplomatic conference was held at Washington, D.C.,
(LGA) packages.
in 1989, which adopted a Treaty on Intellectual Property
Ball grid array (BGA) packages have existed since the in Respect of Integrated Circuits (IPIC Treaty).
1970s. Flip-chip Ball Grid Array packages, which allow for much higher pin count than other package types, The Treaty on Intellectual Property in respect of Intewere developed in the 1990s. In an FCBGA package the grated Circuits, also called Washington Treaty or IPIC
die is mounted upside-down (ipped) and connects to the Treaty (signed at Washington on 26 May 1989) is curpackage balls via a package substrate that is similar to a rently not in force, but was partially integrated into the
printed-circuit board rather than by wires. FCBGA pack- TRIPS agreement.
ages allow an array of input-output signals (called Area- National laws protecting IC layout designs have been
I/O) to be distributed over the entire die rather than being adopted in a number of countries.
11.10. SILICON LABELLING AND GRAFFITI
11.9 Other developments

In the 1980s, programmable logic devices were developed. These devices contain circuits whose logical function and connectivity can be programmed by the user,
rather than being xed by the integrated circuit manufacturer. This allows a single chip to be programmed
to implement dierent LSI-type functions such as logic
gates, adders and registers. Current devices called eldprogrammable gate arrays can now implement tens of
thousands of LSI circuits in parallel and operate up to 1.5
GHz.
109
bears 80 cores. Each core is capable of handling its own
task independently of the others. This is in response to
the heat-versus-speed limit that is about to be reached
using existing transistor technology (see: thermal design
power). This design provides a new challenge to chip programming. Parallel programming languages such as the
open-source X10 programming language are designed to
assist with this task.[40]
Since the early 2000s, the integration of optical functionality (optical computing) into silicon chips has been actively pursued in both academic research and in industry resulting in the successful commercialization of siliThe techniques perfected by the integrated circuits indus- con based integrated optical transceivers combining optidetectors, routing) with CMOS
try over the last three decades have been used to create cal devices (modulators,
[41]
based
electronics.
very small mechanical devices driven by electricity using a technology known as microelectromechanical systems. These devices are used in a variety of commercial and military applications. Example commercial ap- 11.10 Silicon labelling and grati
plications include DLP projectors, inkjet printers, and
accelerometers and MEMS gyroscopes used to deploy au- To allow identication during production most silicon
tomobile airbags.
chips will have a serial number in one corner. It is also
As of 2014, the vast majority of all transistors are fabricated in a single layer on one side of a chip of silicon in a
at 2-dimensional planar process. Researchers have produced prototypes of several promising alternatives, such
as:
fabricating transistors over the entire surface of a
small sphere of silicon.[36][37]
various approaches to stacking several layers of
transistors to make a three-dimensional integrated
circuit, such as through-silicon via, monolithic
3D,[38] stacked wire bonding,[39] etc.
transistors built from other materials: graphene
transistors, molybdenite transistors, carbon nanotube eld-eect transistor, gallium nitride transistor, transistor-like nanowire electronic devices,
organic eld-eect transistor, etc.
modications to the substrate, typically to make
"exible transistors" for a exible display or other
exible electronics, possibly leading to a roll-away
computer.
In the past, radios could not be fabricated in the same
low-cost processes as microprocessors. But since 1998,
a large number of radio chips have been developed using
CMOS processes. Examples include Intels DECT cordless phone, or Atheros's 802.11 card.
Future developments seem to follow the multi-core multimicroprocessor paradigm, already used by the Intel and
AMD dual-core processors. Rapport Inc. and IBM
started shipping the KC256 in 2006, a 256-core microprocessor. Intel, as recently as FebruaryAugust 2011,
unveiled a prototype, not for commercial sale chip that
common to add the manufacturers logo. Ever since ICs

were created, some chip designers have used the silicon
surface area for surreptitious, non-functional images or
words. These are sometimes referred to as chip art, silicon art, silicon grati or silicon doodling.
11.11 ICs and IC families

The 555 timer IC
The 741 operational amplier
7400 series TTL logic building blocks
4000 series, the CMOS counterpart to the 7400 series (see also: 74HC00 series)
Intel 4004, the worlds rst microprocessor, which
led to the famous 8080 CPU and then the IBM PC's
8088, 80286, 486 etc.
The MOS Technology 6502 and Zilog Z80 microprocessors, used in many home computers of the
early 1980s
The Motorola 6800 series of computer-related
chips, leading to the 68000 and 88000 series (used
in some Apple computers and in the 1980s Commodore Amiga series).
The LM-series of analog integrated circuits.
11.12 See also

Automatic test pattern generation
110
BCDMOS
Bipolar junction transistor
Cleanroom
Computer engineering
Current mirror
Datasheet Archive
Depletion-load NMOS logic
Electrical engineering
Field-programmable gate array
Gate array
Integrated circuit development
Integrated circuit vacuum tube
integrated injection logic
Ion implantation
Joint Test Action Group
LDMOS
Linear feedback shift register
Logic family
Memristor
Monolithic microwave integrated circuit
MOSFET
Multi-threshold CMOS
Photonic integrated circuit
Silicon-germanium
Silicon photonics
Simulation
Sound chip
SPICE
Zero insertion force
11.13 References
[1] Intel to Invest More than $5 Billion to Build New Factory
in Arizona. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
[2] Intel 22nm Technology. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
[3] Integrated circuit (IC)". JEDEC.
[4] Andrew Wylie (2009). The rst monolithic integrated
circuits. Retrieved 14 March 2011. Nowadays when
people say 'integrated circuit' they usually mean a monolithic IC, where the entire circuit is constructed in a single
piece of silicon.
[5] Horowitz, Paul; Hill, Wineld (1989). The Art of Electronics (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 61.
ISBN 0-521-37095-7. Integrated circuits, which have
largely replaced circuits constructed from discrete transistors, are themselves merely arrays of transistors and other
components built from a single chip of semiconductor material.
[6] Integrated circuits help Invention.
cuithelp.com. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
Integratedcir-
[7] DE 833366 W. Jacobi/SIEMENS AG: Halbleiterverstrker priority ling on 14 April 1949, published on 15
May 1952.
[8] The Hapless Tale of Georey Dummer, (n.d.),
(HTML), Electronic Product News, accessed 8 July 2008.
[9] George Rostky, (n. d.), Micromodules: the ultimate
package, (HTML), EE Times, accessed 8 July 2008.
[10] The Chip that Jack Built, (c. 2008), (HTML), Texas Instruments, Retrieved 29 May 2008.
[11] Jack S. Kilby, Miniaturized Electronic Circuits, United
States Patent Oce, US Patent 3,138,743, led 6 February 1959, issued 23 June 1964.
[12] Winston, Brian (1998). Media Technology and Society: A
History : From the Telegraph to the Internet. Routledge.
p. 221. ISBN 978-0-415-14230-4.
[13] Texas Instruments 1961 First IC-based computer.
Ti.com. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
[14] Nobel Web AB, (10 October 2000),(The Nobel Prize in
Physics 2000, Retrieved 29 May 2008
[15] "Milestones:First Semiconductor Integrated Circuit (IC),
1958. IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Retrieved 3
August 2011.
[16] Kurt Lehovecs patent on the isolation pn junction: U.S.
Patent 3,029,366 granted on 10 April 1962, led 22 April
1959. Robert Noyce credits Lehovec in his article
Microelectronics, Scientic American, September 1977,
Volume 23, Number 3, pp. 639.
[17] Peter Clarke, Intel enters billion-transistor processor era,
EE Times, 14 October 2005
[18] http://www.iutbayonne.univ-pau.fr/~{}dalmau/
documents/cours/archi/MICROPancien.pdf
11.14. FURTHER READING
111
[19] Bulletin de la Societe fribourgeoise des sciences naturelles,

Volumes 62 63 (in French). 1973.
[36] Spherical semiconductor radio temperature sensor. NatureInterface. 2002.
[20] Mindell, David A. (2008). Digital Apollo: Human and

Machine in Spaceight. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-26213497-2.
[37] NOBUO TAKEDA. MEMS applications of Ball Semiconductor Technology.
[21] Ginzberg, Eli (1976). Economic impact of large public

programs: the NASA Experience. Olympus Publishing
Company. p. 57. ISBN 0-913420-68-9.
[22] Peter Clarke, EE Times: Intel enters billion-transistor processor era, 14 November 2005
[23] Antone Gonsalves, EE Times, Samsung begins production of 16-Gb ash, 30 April 2007
[24] Meindl, J.D. Ultra-large scale integration.
IEEE. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
ieee.org.
[25] Shaneeld, Daniel. Wafer scale integration. google.

com/patents. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
[26] Klaas, Je. System-on-a-chip. google.com/patents. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
[27] Topol, A.W.; Tulipe, D.C.La; Shi, L; et., al. Threedimensional integrated circuits. ieee.org. International
Business Machines Corporation (IBM). Retrieved 21
September 2014.
[28] A.H.D. Graham, J. Robbins, C.R. Bowen, J. Taylor
(2011). Commercialisation of CMOS Integrated Circuit
Technology in Multi-Electrode Arrays for Neuroscience
and Cell-Based Biosensors. Sensors 11: 49434971.
doi:10.3390/s110504943.
[29] H. Hmmerle, K. Kobuch, K. Kohler, W. Nisch, H. Sachs,
M. Stelzle (2002). Biostability of micro-photodiode arrays for subretinal implantation. Biomat. 23: 797804.
doi:10.1016/S0142-9612(01)00185-5.
[30] M. Birkholz, K.-E. Ehwald, D. Wolansky, I. Costina, C.
Baristyran-Kaynak, M. Frhlich, H. Beyer, A. Kapp, F.
Lisdat (2010). Corrosion-resistant metal layers from
a CMOS process for bioelectronic applications (PDF).
Surf. Coat. Technol. 204 (1213): 20552059.
doi:10.1016/j.surfcoat.2009.09.075.
[31] Coucoulas, A., http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Hot_Work_Ultrasonic_(Thermosonic)_Bonding_
549-556.pdf Hot Work Ultrasonic Bonding A
Method Of Facilitating Metal Flow By Restoration
Processes, Proc. 20th IEEE Electronic Components
Conf. Washington, D.C., May 1970, pp. 549556.https:
//sites.google.com/site/hotworkultrasonicbonding/
[32] For example, Intel Fab 28 cost $3.5 billion, while
its neighboring Fab 18 cost $1.5 billion http://www.
theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=29958
[33] Breaking News-IBM, AMD Expect 45-Nanometer
Chips in Mid-2008. Itjungle.com. 2006-12-12. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
[34] 145 series ICs (in Russian)". Retrieved 22 April 2012.
[35]
//copyright.gov/circs/circ100.pdf
[38] Zvi Or-Bach. Why SOI is the Future Technology of

Semiconductors. 2013.
[39] Samsungs Eight-Stack Flash Shows up in Apples iPhone
4. 2010.
[40] Biever, C. Chip revolution poses problems for programmers, New Scientist (Vol 193, Number 2594)
[41] A. Narasimha et al. (2008). A 40-Gb/s QSFP optoelectronic transceiver in a 0.13 m CMOS silicon-on-insulator
technology. Proceedings of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC): OMK7.
11.14 Further reading

The rst monolithic integrated circuits
Baker, R. J. (2010). CMOS: Circuit Design, Layout,
and Simulation, Third Edition. Wiley-IEEE. ISBN
978-0-470-88132-3. http://cmosedu.com/
Hodges, David; Jackson, Horace; Saleh, Resve
(2003). Analysis and Design of Digital Integrated
Circuits. McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math.
ISBN 978-0-07-228365-5.
Rabaey, J. M.; Chandrakasan, A.; Nikolic, B.
(2003). Digital Integrated Circuits (2nd ed.). ISBN
0-13-090996-3.
Mead, Carver; Conway, Lynn (1980). Introduction
to VLSI systems. Addison Wesley Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-201-04358-7.
Veendrick, H. J. M. (2008). Nanometer CMOS ICs,
from Basics to ASICs. Springer. p. 770. ISBN
978-1-4020-8332-7. http://springer.com/cn/book/
9781402083327?referer=springer.com
Arjun N. Saxena (2009). Invention of Integrated
Circuits: Untold Important Facts. World Scientic.
ISBN 978-981-281-446-3.
Veendrick, H.J.M. (2011). Bits on Chips. p.
253. ISBN 978-1-61627-947-9.https://openlibrary.
org/works/OL15759799W/Bits_on_Chips/
11.15 External links

General
Krazit, Tom " AMDs new 65-nanometer chips sip
energy but trail Intel, C-net, 2006-12-21. Retrieved
on 8 January 2007
112
a large chart listing ICs by generic number including
access to most of the datasheets for the parts.
Stephen P. Marsh (2006). Practical MMIC design.
Artech House. ISBN 978-1-59693-036-0.
Author S.P. Marsh
Introduction to Circuit Boards and Integrated Circuits 6/21/2011
Patents
US3,138,743 Miniaturized electronic circuit J.
S. Kilby
US3,138,747 Integrated semiconductor circuit device R. F. Stewart
US3,261,081 Method of making miniaturized
electronic circuits J. S. Kilby
US3,434,015 Capacitor for miniaturized electronic circuits or the like J. S. Kilby
Silicon grati
The Chipworks silicon art gallery
Integrated circuit die manufacturing
IC Die Photography A gallery of IC die photographs
Zeptobars Yet another gallery of IC die photographs
Silicon Chip Wafer Fab Mailbag on YouTube A
look at some equipment and wafers used in the manufacturing of silicon chip wafers
Chapter 12
Breadboard
This article is about electronics. For other uses, see
Breadboard (disambiguation).
A breadboard is a construction base for prototyping of
This 1920s TRF radio manufactured by Signal was constructed

on a wooden breadboard.
was rst glued to the board as a guide to placing terminals,

then components and wires were installed over their symelectronics. Originally it was literally a bread board, a pol- bols on the schematic. Using thumbtacks or small nails
ished piece of wood used for slicing bread. In the 1970s as mounting posts was also common.
the solderless breadboard (AKA plugboard, a termi- Breadboards have evolved over time, with the term now
nal array board) became available and nowadays the term being used for all kinds of prototype electronic devices.
breadboard is commonly used to refer to these. Bread- For example, US Patent 3,145,483,[2] led in 1961 and
board is also a synonym for "prototype".
granted in 1964, describes a wooden plate breadboard
Solderless breadboard with 400 connection points
Because the solderless breadboard does not require

soldering, it is reusable. This makes it easy to use for creating temporary prototypes and experimenting with circuit design. For this reason, solderless breadboards are
also extremely popular with students and in technological education. Older breadboard types did not have this
property. A stripboard (veroboard) and similar prototyping printed circuit boards, which are used to build semipermanent soldered prototypes or one-os, cannot easily
be reused. A variety of electronic systems may be prototyped by using breadboards, from small analog and digital
circuits to complete central processing units (CPUs).
with mounted springs and other facilities. US Patent

3,496,419,[3] led in 1967 and granted in 1970, refers
to a particular printed circuit board layout as a Printed
Circuit Breadboard. Both examples refer to and describe
other types of breadboards as prior art.
12.1 Evolution
Alternative methods to create prototypes are point-topoint construction (reminiscent of the original wooden
breadboards), wire wrap, wiring pencil, and boards like
the stripboard. Complicated systems, such as modern
computers comprising millions of transistors, diodes, and
resistors, do not lend themselves to prototyping using
breadboards, as their complex designs can be dicult to
In the early days of radio, amateurs nailed bare copper

wires or terminal strips to a wooden board (often literally
a board to slice bread on) and soldered electronic components to them.[1] Sometimes a paper schematic diagram
The breadboard most commonly used today is usually

made of white plastic and is a pluggable (solderless)
breadboard. It was designed by Ronald J. Portugal of EI
Instruments Inc. in 1971.[4]
12.1.1 Alternatives
113
114
CHAPTER 12. BREADBOARD
12.2.2 Bus and terminal strips
Wire wrap backplane
lay out and debug on a breadboard.

Modern circuit designs are generally developed using a
schematic capture and simulation system, and tested in
software simulation before the rst prototype circuits are
built on a printed circuit board. Integrated circuit designs
are a more extreme version of the same process: since
producing prototype silicon is costly, extensive software
simulations are performed before fabricating the rst prototypes. However, prototyping techniques are still used
for some applications such as RF circuits, or where software models of components are inexact or incomplete.
You could also use a square grid of pairs of holes where
one hole per pair connects to its row and the other connects to its column. This same shape can be in a circle with rows and columns each spiraling opposite clockwise/counterclockwise.
12.2 Solderless breadboard

12.2.1
Typical specications
A modern solderless breadboard consists of a perforated block of plastic with numerous tin plated phosphor
bronze or nickel silver alloy spring clips under the perforations. The clips are often called tie points or contact
points. The number of tie points is often given in the specication of the breadboard.
The spacing between the clips (lead pitch) is typically 0.1
in (2.54 mm). Integrated circuits (ICs) in dual in-line
packages (DIPs) can be inserted to straddle the centerline of the block. Interconnecting wires and the leads
of discrete components (such as capacitors, resistors, and
inductors) can be inserted into the remaining free holes
to complete the circuit. Where ICs are not used, discrete
components and connecting wires may use any of the
holes. Typically the spring clips are rated for 1 ampere at
5 volts and 0.333 amperes at 15 volts (5 watts).
The hole pattern for a typical etched prototyping PCB (printed

circuit board) is similar to the node pattern of the solderless
breadboards shown above.
Solderless breadboards are available from several dierent manufacturers, but most share a similar layout. The
layout of a typical solderless breadboard is made up from
two types of areas, called strips. Strips consist of interconnected electrical terminals.
Terminal strips The main areas, to hold most of the
electronic components.
In the middle of a terminal strip of a breadboard, one
typically nds a notch running in parallel to the long
side. The notch is to mark the centerline of the terminal strip and provides limited airow (cooling) to
DIP ICs straddling the centerline. The clips on the
right and left of the notch are each connected in a radial way; typically ve clips (i.e., beneath ve holes)
in a row on each side of the notch are electrically
connected. The ve clip columns on the left of the
notch are often marked as A, B, C, D, and E, while
the ones on the right are marked F, G, H, I and J.
When a skinny dual in-line pin package (DIP) integrated circuit (such as a typical DIP-14 or DIP-16,
which have a 0.3-inch (7.6 mm) separation between
the pin rows) is plugged into a breadboard, the pins
of one side of the chip are supposed to go into column E while the pins of the other side go into column F on the other side of the notch.
Bus strips To provide power to the electronic components.
A bus strip usually contains two columns: one for
ground and one for a supply voltage. However, some
breadboards only provide a single-column power
distributions bus strip on each long side. Typically
the column intended for a supply voltage is marked
in red, while the column for ground is marked in
blue or black. Some manufacturers connect all terminals in a column. Others just connect groups
12.2. SOLDERLESS BREADBOARD

of, for example, 25 consecutive terminals in a column. The latter design provides a circuit designer
with some more control over crosstalk (inductively
coupled noise) on the power supply bus. Often the
groups in a bus strip are indicated by gaps in the
color marking.
Bus strips typically run down one or both sides of a
terminal strip or between terminal strips. On large
breadboards additional bus strips can often be found
on the top and bottom of terminal strips.
115
sets or can be manually manufactured. The latter can
become tedious work for larger circuits. Ready-to-use
jump wires come in dierent qualities, some even with
tiny plugs attached to the wire ends. Jump wire material for ready-made or homemade wires should usually be
22 AWG (0.33 mm2 ) solid copper, tin-plated wire - assuming no tiny plugs are to be attached to the wire ends.
The wire ends should be stripped 3 16 to 5 16 in (4.8 to
7.9 mm). Shorter stripped wires might result in bad contact with the boards spring clips (insulation being caught
in the springs). Longer stripped wires increase the likelihood of short-circuits on the board. Needle-nose pliers and tweezers are helpful when inserting or removing
wires, particularly on crowded boards.
Some manufacturers provide separate bus and terminal

strips. Others just provide breadboard blocks which contain both in one block. Often breadboard strips or blocks Dierently colored wires and color-coding discipline are
of one brand can be clipped together to make a larger often adhered to for consistency. However, the number
breadboard.
of available colors is typically far fewer than the numIn a more robust variant, one or more breadboard strips ber of signal types or paths. Typically, a few wire colors
are mounted on a sheet of metal. Typically, that backing are reserved for the supply voltages and ground (e.g., red,
sheet also holds a number of binding posts. These posts blue, black), some are reserved for main signals, and the
provide a clean way to connect an external power supply. rest are simply used where convenient. Some ready-toThis type of breadboard may be slightly easier to handle. use jump wire sets use the color to indicate the length of
Several images in this article show such solderless bread- the wires, but these sets do not allow a meaningful colorcoding schema.
boards.
Diagram
12.2.4 Inside a breadboard: construction
A full size terminal breadboard strip typically consists

of around 56 to 65 rows of connectors, each row contain- The following images show the inside of a bus strip.
ing the above-mentioned two sets of connected clips (A
to E and F to J). Together with bus strips on each side this
Inside breadboard 1
makes up a typical 784 to 910 tie point solderless breadboard. Small size strips typically come with around 30
Inside breadboard 2
rows. Miniature solderless breadboards as small as 17
rows (no bus strips, 170 tie points) can be found, but these
Inside breadboard 3
are only suitable for small and simple designs.
12.2.3
Jump wires
Inside breadboard 4
Inside breadboard 5
Inside breadboard 6
12.2.5 Advanced solderless breadboards

Some manufacturers provide high-end versions of solderless breadboards. These are typically high-quality breadboard modules mounted on a at casing. The casing contains additional equipment for breadboarding, such as a
power supply, one or more signal generators, serial interfaces, LED or LCD display modules, and logic probes.[5]
Solderless breadboard modules can also be found
mounted on devices like microcontroller evaluation
Jump wires (also called jumper wires) for solderless boards. They provide an easy way to add additional pebreadboarding can be obtained in ready-to-use jump wire riphery circuits to the evaluation board.
Stranded 22AWG jump wires with solid tips
116
12.2.6
CHAPTER 12. BREADBOARD
High frequencies and dead bugs
For high-frequency development, a metal breadboard affords a desirable solderable ground plane, often an unetched piece of printed circuit board; integrated circuits
are sometimes stuck upside down to the breadboard and
soldered to directly, a technique sometimes called dead
bug construction because of its appearance. Examples
of dead bug with ground plane construction are illustrated
in a Linear Technologies application note.[6] For other
uses of this technique see dead bugs.
12.2.7
Limitations
while smaller components (e.g., SMD resistors) are usually soldered directly onto the adapter. The adapter is
then plugged into the breadboard via the 0.1 in (2.54 mm)
connectors. However, the need to solder the components
onto the adapter negates some of the advantage of using
a solderless breadboard.
Very complex circuits can become unmanageable on a
solderless breadboard due to the large amount of wiring
required. The very convenience of easy plugging and unplugging of connections also makes it too easy to accidentally disturb a connection, and the system becomes
unreliable. It is possible to prototype systems with thousands of connecting points, but great care must be taken
in careful assembly, and such a system becomes unreliable as contact resistance develops over time. At some
point, very complex systems must be implemented in a
more reliable interconnection technology, to have a likelihood of working over a usable time period.
12.3 Gallery
A solderless breadboard with a completed circuit.
A binary counter wired up on a large solderless
breadboard.
Logical 4-bit adder with output bits linked to LEDs
on a typical breadboard.
An example of a complex circuit built on a breadboard. The
circuit is an Intel 8088 single board computer.
Due to relatively large stray capacitance compared to a

properly laid out PCB (approx 2pF between adjacent contact columns[7] ), high inductance of some connections
and a relatively high and not very reproducible contact
resistance, solderless breadboards are limited to operation at relatively low frequencies, usually less than 10
MHz, depending on the nature of the circuit. The relatively high contact resistance can already be a problem
for some DC and very low frequency circuits. Solderless
breadboards are further limited by their voltage and current ratings.
Solderless breadboards usually cannot accommodate
surface-mount technology devices (SMD) or components
with grid spacing other than 0.1 in (2.54 mm). Further, they cannot accommodate components with multiple rows of connectors if these connectors don't match the
dual in-line layoutit is impossible to provide the correct
electrical connectivity. Sometimes small PCB adapters
called breakout adapters can be used to t the component to the board. Such adapters carry one or more
components and have 0.1 in (2.54 mm) spaced male connector pins in a single in-line or dual in-line layout, for
insertion into a solderless breadboard. Larger components are usually plugged into a socket on the adapter,
Close-up of a solderless breadboard. An IC straddling the centerline is probed with an oscilloscope

probe. The solderless breadboard is mounted on a
blue painted metal plate base. Red and black binding posts are also present on the base; the black one
is partly obscured by the oscilloscope probe.
Example breadboard drawing. Two bus strips and
one terminal strip in one block. 25 consecutive terminals in a bus strip connected (indicated by gaps in
the red and blue lines). Four binding posts depicted
at the top.
12.4 See also

Brassboard
Expansion spring
Fahnestock clip
Iterative design
Perfboard
Stripboard
Veroboard
Wire wrap
12.5 References
[1] Description of the term breadboard
[2] U.S. Patent 3,145,483 Test Board for Electronic Circuits
[3] U.S. Patent 3,496,419 Printed Circuit Breadboard
[4] US patent D228136, Ronald J. Portugal, breadboard for
electronic components or the like, issued 1973-08-14
[5] Powered breadboard
[6] Linear technologies AN47. Dead-bug breadboards with
ground plane, and other prototyping techniques, illustrated in Figures F1 to F24, from p.AN47-98. There is information on breadboarding on pages AN47-26 to AN4729.
[7] Jones, David. EEVblog #568 - Solderless Breadboard
Capacitance. EEVblog. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
12.6 External links

Large parallel processing design prototyped on 50
connected breadboards
117
Chapter 13
Perfboard
tions the components so all leads fall on intersections of
a 0.1 in grid. When routing the connections more than 2
copper layers can be used, as multiple overlaps are not a
problem for insulated wires.
Once the layout is nalized, the components are soldered
in their designated locations, paying attention to orientation of polarized parts such as electrolytic capacitors,
diodes, and integrated circuits. Next, electrical connections are made as called for in the layout.
Top of a copper clad Perfboard with solder pads for each hole.
Perfboard is a material for prototyping electronic circuits also called (DOT PCB). It is a thin, rigid sheet with
holes pre-drilled at standard intervals across a grid, usually a square grid of 2.54 mm (0.1 in) spacing. These
holes are ringed by round or square copper pads. Inexpensive perfboard may have pads on only one side of the
board, while better quality perfboard can have pads on
both sides (plate-through holes). Since each pad is electrically isolated, the builder makes all connections with
either wire wrap or miniature point to point wiring techniques. Discrete components are soldered to the prototype board such as resistors, capacitors, and integrated
circuits. The substrate is typically made of paper laminated with phenolic resin (such as FR-2) or a berglassreinforced epoxy laminate (FR-4).
The 0.1 in grid system accommodates integrated circuits
in DIP packages and many other types of through-hole
components. Perfboard is not designed for prototyping
surface mount devices.
Before building a circuit on perfboard, the locations of
the components and connections are typically planned in
detail on paper or with software tools. Small scale prototypes, however, are often built ad hoc, using an oversized
perfboard.
One school of thought is to make as many connections as

possible without adding extra wire. This is done by bending the existing leads on resistors, capacitors, etc. into position, trimming o extra length, and soldering the lead to
make the required electrical connection. Another school
of thought refuses to bend the excessive leads of components and use them for wiring, on the ground that this
makes removing a component later hard or impossible,
e.g. when a repair is needed.
If extra wires need to be used, or are used for principle
reasons, they are typically routed entirely on the copper
side of perfboards. Because, as opposite to strip boards,
nearby holes aren't connected, and the only hole in a pad
is already occupied by a components lead. Wires used
range from isolated wires, including verowire (enameled
copper wire with a polyurethane insulation supposed to
melt when soldered)), to bare copper wire, depending on
individual preference, and often also on what is currently
at hand in the workshop.
For insulated wires thin solid core wire with temperatureresistant insulation such as Kynar or Tefzel is preferred.
The wire gauge is typically 24 - 30 AWG. A special stripping tool can be used, incorporating a thin steel blade
with a slit that the wire is simply inserted into and then
pulled loose, leaving a clean stripped end. This wire
was developed initially for circuit assembly by the wire
wrap technique but also serves well for miniature pointto-point wiring on perfboard. Bare copper wire is useful when merging a number of connections to form an
electrical bus such as the circuits ground, and when there
is enough space to properly route connections, instead of
wiring them rats-nest style.
Intentional solder bridges can be used to connect adjacent

Software for PCB layout can often be used to generate
pads when necessary. Careful handeye coordination is
perfboard layouts as well. In this case, the designer posi118
13.1. SEE ALSO

needed to avoid causing inadvertent short circuits.
Circuits assembled on perfboard are not necessarily fragile but may be less impact-resistant than printed circuit
boards.
Perfboard diers from stripboard in that each pad on
perfboard is isolated. Stripboard is made with rows of
copper conductors that form default connections, which
are broken into isolated segments as required by scraping through the copper. This is similar to the pattern of
default connections on a solderless breadboard. However,
the absence of default connectivity on perfboard gives the
designer more freedom in positioning components and
lends itself more readily to software-aided design than
stripboard or breadboard.
Bottom of a copper clad Perfboard with a ground plane
A 555 timer circuit on perforated board
13.1 See also

Stripboard (Veroboard)
Breadboard (Protoboard)
119
Chapter 14
Stripboard
For lm preproduction, see Production board.
Stripboard is the generic name for a widely used type of
14.1 Variations
Stripboard is available from many vendors. All versions
have copper strips on one side. Some are made using
printed circuit board etching and drilling techniques, although some have milled strips and punched holes. The
original Veroboard used FR-2 synthetic-resin-bonded paper (SRBP) (also known as phenolic board) as the base
board material. Some versions of stripboard now use
higher quality FR-4 (berglass-reinforced epoxy laminate) material.[1]
14.2 Hole spacing

Stripboard holes are drilled on 0.1 inch (2.54 mm) centers. This spacing allows components having pins with
a 0.1 inch (2.54 mm) spacing to be inserted. Compatible parts include DIP ICs, sockets for ICs, some types of
connectors, and other devices.
Stripboards have evolved over time into several variants
and related products. For example, a larger version using a 0.15 inch (3.81 mm) grid and larger holes is available, but is generally less popular (presumably because it
doesn't match up with standard IC pin spacing).
A piece of unused stripboard
electronics prototyping board characterized by a 0.1 inch

(2.54 mm) regular (rectangular) grid of holes, with wide
parallel strips of copper cladding running in one direction all the way across one side of the board. It is commonly also known by the name of the original product
Veroboard, which is a trademark, in the UK, of British
company Vero Technologies Ltd and Canadian company
Pixel Print Ltd. In using the board, breaks are made in the
tracks, usually around holes, to divide the strips into multiple electrical nodes. With care, it is possible to break
between holes to allow for components that have two pin
rows only one position apart such as twin row headers for
IDCs.
Stripboard is not designed for surface-mount components, though it is possible to mount many such components on the track side, particularly if tracks are
cut/shaped with a knife or small cutting disc in a rotary
tool.
14.3 Board dimensions

Stripboard is available in a variety of sizes. One common
size (at least in the United Kingdom) is 160 mm x 100
mm.[2]
14.4 Assemblies
The components are usually placed on the plain side of
the board, with their leads protruding through the holes.
The leads are then soldered to the copper tracks on the
other side of the board to make the desired connections,
and any excess wire is cut o. The continuous tracks may
be easily and neatly cut as desired to form breaks between
conductors using a 3 mm twist drill, a hand cutter made
120
14.6. PROTOTYPE BOARDS
121
14.5.2 Breadboard
Veroboard is similar in concept and usage to plugin breadboard, but is cheaper and more permanent
connections are soldered and while some limited reuse
may be possible, more than a few cycles of soldering and
desoldering are likely to render both the components and
the board unusable. In contrast, breadboard connections
are held by friction, and the breadboard can be reused
many times. However, a breadboard is not very suitable
for prototyping that needs to remain in a set conguration
for an appreciable period of time nor for physical mockups containing a working circuit or for any environment
subject to vibration or movement.
14.6 Prototype boards

An example of a populated stripboard
Stripboards have further evolved into a larger class of prototype boards, available in dierent shapes and sizes, with
dierent conductive trace layouts.
14.6.1 TriPad
for the purpose, or a knife. Tracks may be linked up on

either side of the board using wire. With practice, very
neat and reliable assemblies can be created, though such
a method is labour-intensive and therefore unsuitable for TriPad stripboard has strips of copper broken up into three-hole
sections
production assemblies except in very small quantity.
External wire connections to the board are made either
by soldering the wires through the holes or, for wires too
thick to pass through the holes, by soldering them to specially made pins called Veropins which t tightly into the
holes. Alternatively, some types of connectors have a
suitable pin spacing to be inserted directly into the board.
14.5 Comparison with other systems
For example, one variant is called a TriPad board. This is

similar to stripboard, except that the conductive tracks do
not run continuously along the board but are broken into
sections, each of which spans three holes. This allows
the legs of two or three components to be easily linked
together in the circuit conveniently without the need for
track breaks to be made. However, in order to link more
than three holes together, wire links or bridges must be
formed and this can result in a less compact layout than
is possible with ordinary stripboard.
14.6.2 Perf+
14.5.1
Wire wrap
Another variant is Perf+.[4] This is best described as a

selective stripboard. Instead of having all the holes conFor high density prototyping, especially of digital circuits, nected together in a strip, a Perf+ board can have holes
wire wrap is faster and more reliable than Stripboard for connected to the bus using a small dab of solder. On the
experienced personnel.[3]
other side the busses run in another direction, allowing
122
CHAPTER 14. STRIPBOARD
[5] BusBoard Prototype Systems Ltd. PR3UC ProtoBoard

With Connectors Datasheet Retrieved on 2010-10-20.
Closeup of a corner of a Perf+ prototyping board showing the

pad shapes
compact layouts of complicated circuits by passing signals over each other on dierent layers of the board.
14.6.3
Other
Other prototype board variants have generic layouts to

simplify building prototypes with integrated circuits, typically in DIP shapes, or with transistors (pads forming triangles). In particular, some boards mimic the layout of
breadboards, to simplify moving a non-permanent prototype on a breadboard to a permanent construction on
a PCB. Some types of boards have patterns for connectors on the periphery, like DB9 or IDC headers, to allow
connectors with non-standard pin spacings to be easily
used.[5] Some come in special physical shapes, to be used
to prototype plug-in boards for computer bus systems.
14.7 See also

Point-to-point construction
Breadboard
Perfboard
Veroboard
14.8 References
[1] BusBoard Prototype Systems Ltd. ST3U StripBoard
Datasheet Retrieved on 2010-10-20.
[2] Prototype and development boards from RS Components
The board size with the largest number of products listed
is 160 mm x 100 mm.
[3] Bilotta, Anthony J.: Connections in Electronic Assemblies.
Marcel Dekker: 1985. ISBN 0-8247-7319-5
[4] Original Kickstarter for Perf+. Perf+ the perfboard reinvented Retrieved on 2015-4-17.
Chapter 15
Analogue electronics
Analogue electronics (or analog in American English)
are electronic systems with a continuously variable signal, in contrast to digital electronics where signals usually take only two levels. The term analogue describes
the proportional relationship between a signal and a voltage or current that represents the signal. The word analogue is derived from the Greek word (analogos) meaning proportional.[1]
of a sound striking a microphone creates a corresponding variation in the current passing through it or voltage
across it. An increase in the volume of the sound causes
the uctuation of the current or voltage to increase proportionally while keeping the same waveform or shape.
Mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic and other systems may
also use analogue signals.
15.1 Analogue signals

15.2 Inherent noise
Main article: Analogue signal

An analogue signal uses some attribute of the medium
to convey the signals information. For example, an
aneroid barometer uses the angular position of a needle as the signal to convey the information of changes in
atmospheric pressure.[2] Electrical signals may represent
information by changing their voltage, current, frequency,
or total charge. Information is converted from some
other physical form (such as sound, light, temperature,
pressure, position) to an electrical signal by a transducer
which converts one type of energy into another (e.g. a
microphone).[3]
Analogue systems invariably include noise that is random disturbances or variations, some caused by the random thermal vibrations of atomic particles. Since all
variations of an analogue signal are signicant, any disturbance is equivalent to a change in the original signal
and so appears as noise.[5] As the signal is copied and
re-copied, or transmitted over long distances, these random variations become more signicant and lead to signal
degradation. Other sources of noise may include external
electrical signals or poorly designed components. These
disturbances are reduced by shielding and by using lownoise ampliers (LNA).[6]
The signals take any value from a given range, and each
unique signal value represents dierent information. Any
change in the signal is meaningful, and each level of the
signal represents a dierent level of the phenomenon that
it represents. For example, suppose the signal is being
used to represent temperature, with one volt represent- 15.3 Analogue vs digital electronics
ing one degree Celsius. In such a system 10 volts would
represent 10 degrees, and 10.1 volts would represent 10.1 Since the information is encoded dierently in analogue
degrees.
and digital electronics, the way they process a signal
Another method of conveying an analogue signal is to use is consequently dierent. All operations that can be
modulation. In this, some base carrier signal has one of its performed on an analogue signal such as amplication,
properties altered: amplitude modulation (AM) involves ltering, limiting, and others, can also be duplicated in
altering the amplitude of a sinusoidal voltage waveform the digital domain. Every digital circuit is also an anaby the source information, frequency modulation (FM) logue circuit, in that the behaviour of any digital circuit
changes the frequency. Other techniques, such as phase can be explained using the rules of analogue circuits.
modulation or changing the phase of the carrier signal, The rst electronic devices invented and mass-produced
are also used.[4]
were analogue. The use of microelectronics has made
In an analogue sound recording, the variation in pressure digital devices cheap and widely available.
123
124
15.3.1
CHAPTER 15. ANALOGUE ELECTRONICS
Noise
Because of the way information is encoded in analogue

circuits, they are much more susceptible to noise than
digital circuits, since a small change in the signal can represent a signicant change in the information present in
the signal and can cause the information present to be lost.
Since digital signals take on one of only two dierent values, a disturbance would have to be about one-half the
magnitude of the digital signal to cause an error. This
property of digital circuits can be exploited to make signal
processing noise-resistant. In digital electronics, because
the information is quantized, as long as the signal stays
inside a range of values, it represents the same information. Digital circuits use this principle to regenerate the
signal at each logic gate, lessening or removing noise.[7]
15.4 See also

Analogue computer
Analogue signal
Digital for a comparison with analogue
Analogue recording vs. digital recording
Analogue chip
Analogue verication
Electronic circuit
15.5 References
[1] Concise Oxford dictionary (10 ed.). Oxford University
Press Inc. 1999. ISBN 0-19-860287-1.
15.3.2
Precision
A number of factors aect how precise a signal is, mainly

the noise present in the original signal and the noise added
by processing (see signal-to-noise ratio). Fundamental
physical limits such as the shot noise in components limits
the resolution of analogue signals. In digital electronics
additional precision is obtained by using additional digits
to represent the signal. The practical limit in the number of digits is determined by the performance of the
analogue-to-digital converter (ADC), since digital operations can usually be performed without loss of precision.
The ADC takes an analogue signal and changes it into a
series of binary numbers. The ADC may be used in simple digital display devices, e. g., thermometers or light
meters but it may also be used in digital sound recording
and in data acquisition. However, a digital-to-analogue
converter (DAC) is used to change a digital signal to an
analogue signal. A DAC takes a series of binary numbers and converts it to an analogue signal. It is common
to nd a DAC in the gain-control system of an op-amp
which in turn may be used to control digital ampliers
and lters.[8]
15.3.3
Design diculty
Analogue circuits are typically harder to design, requiring more skill, than comparable digital systems. This is
one of the main reasons why digital systems have become
more common than analogue devices. An analogue circuit must be designed by hand, and the process is much
less automated than for digital systems. However, if a
digital electronic device is to interact with the real world,
it will always need an analogue interface.[9] For example,
every digital radio receiver has an analogue preamplier
as the rst stage in the receive chain.
[2] Plympton, George Washington (1884). The aneroid

barometer: its construction and use. D. Van Nostran Co.
[3] Singmin, Andrew (2001). Beginning Digital Electronics
Through Projects. Newnes. p. 9. ISBN 0-7506-7269-2.
Signals come from transducers...
[4] Miller, Mark R. (2002). Electronics the Easy Way. Barrons Educational Series. pp. 232239. ISBN 0-76411981-8. Until the radio came along...
[5] Hsu, Hwei Piao (2003). Schaums Outline of Theory
and Problems of Analogue and Digital Communications.
McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 202. ISBN 0-07-1402284. The presence of noise degrades the performance of
communication systems.
[6] Carr, Joseph J. (2000). Secrets of RF circuit design.
McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 423. ISBN 0-07-1370676. It is common in microwave systems...
[7] Chen, Wai-Kai (2005). The electrical engineering handbook. Academic Press. p. 101. ISBN 0-12-170960-4.
Noise from an analog (or small-signal) perspective...
[8] Scherz, Paul (2006). Practical electronics for inventors.
McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 730. ISBN 0-07-1452818. In order for analog devices... to communicate with
digital circuits...
[9] Williams, Jim (1991). Analog circuit design. Newnes. p.
238. ISBN 0-7506-9640-0. Even within companies producing both analog and digital products...
Chapter 16
Digital electronics
Three digital circuits
relatively small changes to the analog signal levels due to

manufacturing tolerance, signal attenuation or parasitic
noise do not leave the discrete envelope, and as a result
are ignored by signal state sensing circuitry.
In most cases the number of these states is two, and they
are represented by two voltage bands: one near a reference value (typically termed as ground or zero volts),
and the other a value near the supply voltage. These correspond to the false (0) and true (1) values of the
Boolean domain, respectively, yielding binary code.
A binary clock, hand-wired on breadboards
Digital techniques are useful because it is easier to get an

electronic device to switch into one of a number of known
states than to accurately reproduce a continuous range of
values.
Digital electronic circuits are usually made from large assemblies of logic gates, simple electronic representations
of Boolean logic functions.[1]
16.1 Advantages
An industrial digital controller
An advantage of digital circuits when compared to analog

circuits is that signals represented digitally can be transmitted without degradation due to noise.[2] For example,
a continuous audio signal transmitted as a sequence of 1s
and 0s, can be reconstructed without error, provided the
noise picked up in transmission is not enough to prevent
identication of the 1s and 0s. An hour of music can be
stored on a compact disc using about 6 billion binary digits.
In a digital system, a more precise representation of a signal can be obtained by using more binary digits to represent it. While this requires more digital circuits to process the signals, each digit is handled by the same kind
of hardware, resulting in an easily scalable system. In an
Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor
analog system, additional resolution requires fundamental improvements in the linearity and noise characteristics
Digital electronics, or digital (electronic) circuits, are of each step of the signal chain.
electronics that represent signals by discrete bands of
analog levels, rather than by continuous ranges (as used Computer-controlled digital systems can be controlled by
in analogue electronics). All levels within a band repre- software, allowing new functions to be added without
sent the same signal state. Because of this discretization, changing hardware. Often this can be done outside of
the factory by updating the products software. So, the
125
126
CHAPTER 16. DIGITAL ELECTRONICS
products design errors can be corrected after the product tems make those systems more vulnerable to single-bit
is in a customers hands.
errors. These techniques are acceptable when the underInformation storage can be easier in digital systems than lying bits are reliable enough that such errors are highly
in analog ones. The noise-immunity of digital systems unlikely.
permits data to be stored and retrieved without degradation. In an analog system, noise from aging and wear degrade the information stored. In a digital system, as long
as the total noise is below a certain level, the information
can be recovered perfectly.
A single-bit error in audio data stored directly as linear

pulse code modulation (such as on a CD-ROM) causes,
at worst, a single click. Instead, many people use audio
compression to save storage space and download time,
even though a single-bit error may corrupt the entire song.
16.2 Disadvantages
16.3 Design issues in digital circuits
In some cases, digital circuits use more energy than analog circuits to accomplish the same tasks, thus producing
more heat which increases the complexity of the circuits
such as the inclusion of heat sinks. In portable or batterypowered systems this can limit use of digital systems.
Digital circuits are made from analog components. The

design must assure that the analog nature of the components doesn't dominate the desired digital behavior. Digital systems must manage noise and timing margins, parasitic inductances and capacitances, and lter power conFor example, battery-powered cellular telephones often nections.
use a low-power analog front-end to amplify and tune in
the radio signals from the base station. However, a base Bad designs have intermittent problems such as
station has grid power and can use power-hungry, but very glitches, vanishingly fast pulses that may trigger some
exible software radios. Such base stations can be easily logic but not others, "runt pulses" that do not reach
reprogrammed to process the signals used in new cellular valid threshold voltages, or unexpected (undecoded)
combinations of logic states.
standards.
Digital circuits are sometimes more expensive, especially Additionally, where clocked digital systems interface to
analog systems or systems that are driven from a dierent
in small quantities.
clock, the digital system can be subject to metastability
Most useful digital systems must translate from continu- where a change to the input violates the set-up time for
ous analog signals to discrete digital signals. This causes a digital input latch. This situation will self-resolve, but
quantization errors. Quantization error can be reduced will take a random time, and while it persists can result in
if the system stores enough digital data to represent the invalid signals being propagated within the digital system
signal to the desired degree of delity. The Nyquist- for a short time.
Shannon sampling theorem provides an important guideline as to how much digital data is needed to accurately Since digital circuits are made from analog components,
digital circuits calculate more slowly than low-precision
portray a given analog signal.
analog circuits that use a similar amount of space and
In some systems, if a single piece of digital data is lost power. However, the digital circuit will calculate more
or misinterpreted, the meaning of large blocks of related repeatably, because of its high noise immunity. On the
data can completely change. Because of the cli eect, other hand, in the high-precision domain (for example,
it can be dicult for users to tell if a particular system where 14 or more bits of precision are needed), analog
is right on the edge of failure, or if it can tolerate much circuits require much more power and area than digital
more noise before failing.
equivalents.
Digital fragility can be reduced by designing a digital system for robustness. For example, a parity bit or other
error management method can be inserted into the signal 16.4 Construction
path. These schemes help the system detect errors, and
then either correct the errors, or at least ask for a new A digital circuit is often constructed from small eleccopy of the data. In a state-machine, the state transition tronic circuits called logic gates that can be used to create
logic can be designed to catch unused states and trigger a combinational logic. Each logic gate represents a function
reset sequence or other error recovery routine.
of boolean logic. A logic gate is an arrangement of elecDigital memory and transmission systems can use techniques such as error detection and correction to use additional data to correct any errors in transmission and storage.
trically controlled switches, better known as transistors.
Each logic symbol is represented by a dierent shape.

The actual set of shapes was introduced in 1984 under
IEEE/ANSI standard 91-1984. The logic symbol given
On the other hand, some techniques used in digital sys- under this standard are being increasingly used now and
16.4. CONSTRUCTION
127
have even started appearing in the literature published by the least electronics, is to construct an equivalent system
manufacturers of digital integrated circuits.[3]
of electronic switches (usually transistors). One of the
The output of a logic gate is an electrical ow or voltage, easiest ways is to simply have a memory containing a truth
table. The inputs are fed into the address of the memory,
that can, in turn, control more logic gates.
and the data outputs of the memory become the outputs.
Logic gates often use the fewest number of transistors in
order to reduce their size, power consumption and cost, For automated analysis, these representations have digital
le formats that can be processed by computer programs.
and increase their reliability.
Most digital engineers are very careful to select computer
Integrated circuits are the least expensive way to make programs (tools) with compatible le formats.
logic gates in large volumes. Integrated circuits are usually designed by engineers using electronic design automation software (see below for more information).
Another form of digital circuit is constructed from lookup Combinational vs. Sequential
tables, (many sold as "programmable logic devices",
though other kinds of PLDs exist). Lookup tables can
perform the same functions as machines based on logic
gates, but can be easily reprogrammed without changing
the wiring. This means that a designer can often repair
design errors without changing the arrangement of wires.
Therefore, in small volume products, programmable logic
devices are often the preferred solution. They are usually
designed by engineers using electronic design automation
software.
To choose representations, engineers consider types

of digital systems. Most digital systems divide into
"combinational systems" and "sequential systems. A
combinational system always presents the same output
when given the same inputs. It is basically a representation of a set of logic functions, as already discussed.
A sequential system is a combinational system with some

of the outputs fed back as inputs. This makes the digital machine perform a sequence of operations. The
When the volumes are medium to large, and the logic can simplest sequential system is probably a ip op, a mechbe slow, or involves complex algorithms or sequences, of- anism that represents a binary digit or "bit".
ten a small microcontroller is programmed to make an Sequential systems are often designed as state machines.
embedded system. These are usually programmed by In this way, engineers can design a systems gross behavsoftware engineers.
ior, and even test it in a simulation, without considering
When only one digital circuit is needed, and its design is
totally customized, as for a factory production line controller, the conventional solution is a programmable logic
controller, or PLC. These are usually programmed by
electricians, using ladder logic.
all the details of the logic functions.
Sequential systems divide into two further subcategories. Synchronous sequential systems change state
all at once, when a clock signal changes state.
Asynchronous sequential systems propagate changes
whenever inputs change. Synchronous sequential systems are made of well-characterized asynchronous cir16.4.1 Structure of digital systems
cuits such as ip-ops, that change only when the clock
changes, and which have carefully designed timing marEngineers use many methods to minimize logic functions, gins.
in order to reduce the circuits complexity. When the
complexity is less, the circuit also has fewer errors and
less electronics, and is therefore less expensive.
The most widely used simplication is a minimization Synchronous Systems
algorithm like the Espresso heuristic logic minimizer
within a CAD system, although historically, binary de- The usual way to implement a synchronous sequential
cision diagrams, an automated QuineMcCluskey algo- state machine is to divide it into a piece of combinational
rithm, truth tables, Karnaugh maps, and Boolean algebra logic and a set of ip ops called a state register. Each
have been used.
time a clock signal ticks, the state register captures the
feedback generated from the previous state of the combinational logic, and feeds it back as an unchanging input to
Representation
the combinational part of the state machine. The fastest
rate of the clock is set by the most time-consuming logic
Representations are crucial to an engineers design of dig- calculation in the combinational logic.
ital circuits. Some analysis methods only work with par- The state register is just a representation of a binary numticular representations.
ber. If the states in the state machine are numbered
The classical way to represent a digital circuit is with an (easy to arrange), the logic function is some combinaequivalent set of logic gates. Another way, often with tional logic that produces the number of the next state.
128
Asynchronous Systems
that step are valid, and presents a signal that says, grab
the data to the stages that use that stages inputs. It turns
As of 2014, almost all digital machines are synchronous out that just a few relatively simple synchronization cirdesigns because it is easier to create and verify a syn- cuits are needed.
chronous design. However, asynchronous logic is thought
can be superior because its speed is not constrained by an
arbitrary clock; instead, it runs at the maximum speed of
its logic gates. Building an asynchronous system using
Computer Design
faster parts makes the circuit faster.
Many systems need circuits that allow external unsynchronized signals to enter synchronous logic circuits.
These are inherently asynchronous in their design and
must be analyzed as such. Examples of widely used asynchronous circuits include synchronizer ip-ops, switch
debouncers and arbiters.
Asynchronous logic components can be hard to design
because all possible states, in all possible timings must be
considered. The usual method is to construct a table of
the minimum and maximum time that each such state can
exist, and then adjust the circuit to minimize the number
of such states. Then the designer must force the circuit
to periodically wait for all of its parts to enter a compatible state (this is called self-resynchronization). Without such careful design, it is easy to accidentally produce
asynchronous logic that is unstable, that is, real electronics will have unpredictable results because of the cumulative delays caused by small variations in the values
of the electronic components.
Register Transfer Systems
Many digital systems are data ow machines. These are
usually designed using synchronous register transfer logic,
using hardware description languages such as VHDL or
Verilog.
In register transfer logic, binary numbers are stored in
groups of ip ops called registers. The outputs of each
register are a bundle of wires called a "bus" that carries
that number to other calculations. A calculation is simply a piece of combinational logic. Each calculation also
has an output bus, and these may be connected to the inputs of several registers. Sometimes a register will have a
multiplexer on its input, so that it can store a number from
any one of several buses. Alternatively, the outputs of
several items may be connected to a bus through buers
that can turn o the output of all of the devices except
one. A sequential state machine controls when each register accepts new data from its input.
Asynchronous register-transfer systems (such as computers) have a general solution. In the 1980s, some researchers discovered that almost all synchronous registertransfer machines could be converted to asynchronous designs by using rst-in-rst-out synchronization logic. In
this scheme, the digital machine is characterized as a set
of data ows. In each step of the ow, an asynchronous
synchronization circuit determines when the outputs of
The most general-purpose register-transfer logic machine

is a computer. This is basically an automatic binary
abacus. The control unit of a computer is usually designed
as a microprogram run by a microsequencer. A microprogram is much like a player-piano roll. Each table entry or word of the microprogram commands the state of
every bit that controls the computer. The sequencer then
counts, and the count addresses the memory or combinational logic machine that contains the microprogram. The
bits from the microprogram control the arithmetic logic
unit, memory and other parts of the computer, including the microsequencer itself.A specialized computer
is usually a conventional computer with special-purpose
control logic or microprogram.
In this way, the complex task of designing the controls of
a computer is reduced to a simpler task of programming
a collection of much simpler logic machines.
Almost all computers are synchronous. However, true
asynchronous computers have also been designed. One
example is the Aspida DLX core.[4] Another was offered by ARM Holdings. Speed advantages have not
materialized, because modern computer designs already
run at the speed of their slowest componment, usually
memory. These do use somewhat less power because
a clock distribution network is not needed. An unexpected advantage is that asynchronous computers do not
produce spectrally-pure radio noise, so they are used in
some mobile-phone base-station controllers. They may
be more secure in cryptographic applications because
their electrical and radio emissions can be more dicult
to decode.[5]
Computer Architecture
Computer architecture is a specialized engineering activity that tries to arrange the registers, calculation logic,
buses and other parts of the computer in the best way for
some purpose. Computer architects have applied large
amounts of ingenuity to computer design to reduce the
cost and increase the speed and immunity to programming errors of computers. An increasingly common goal
is to reduce the power used in a battery-powered computer system, such as a cell-phone. Many computer architects serve an extended apprenticeship as microprogrammers.
16.4. CONSTRUCTION
16.4.2
Automated design tools
To save costly engineering eort, much of the eort of

designing large logic machines has been automated. The
computer programs are called "electronic design automation tools or just EDA.
Simple truth table-style descriptions of logic are often optimized with EDA that automatically produces reduced
systems of logic gates or smaller lookup tables that still
produce the desired outputs. The most common example of this kind of software is the Espresso heuristic logic
minimizer.
129
works correctly. However, functional test patterns don't
discover common fabrication faults. Production tests are
often designed by software tools called "test pattern generators". These generate test vectors by examining the
structure of the logic and systematically generating tests
for particular faults. This way the fault coverage can
closely approach 100%, provided the design is properly
made testable (see next section).
Once a design exists, and is veried and testable, it often needs to be processed to be manufacturable as well.
Modern integrated circuits have features smaller than the
wavelength of the light used to expose the photoresist.
Manufacturability software adds interference patterns to
Most practical algorithms for optimizing large logic sys- the exposure masks to eliminate open-circuits, and entems use algebraic manipulations or binary decision dia- hance the masks contrast.
grams, and there are promising experiments with genetic
algorithms and annealing optimizations.
To automate costly engineering processes, some EDA
can take state tables that describe state machines and automatically produce a truth table or a function table for
the combinational logic of a state machine. The state table is a piece of text that lists each state, together with the
conditions controlling the transitions between them and
the belonging output signals.
16.4.3 Design for testability
There are several reasons for testing a logic circuit. When

the circuit is rst developed, it is necessary to verify that
the design circuit meets the required functional and timing specications. When multiple copies of a correctly
designed circuit are being manufactured, it is essential to
It is common for the function tables of such computer- test each copy to ensure that the manufacturing process
generated state-machines to be optimized with logic- has not introduced any aws.[6]
minimization software such as Minilog.
A large logic machine (say, with more than a hundred logOften, real logic systems are designed as a series of subprojects, which are combined using a tool ow. The tool
ow is usually a script, a simplied computer language
that can invoke the software design tools in the right order.
ical variables) can have an astronomical number of possible states. Obviously, in the factory, testing every state is
impractical if testing each state takes a microsecond, and
there are more states than the number of microseconds
since the universe began. Unfortunately, this ridiculousTool ows for large logic systems such as microprocessors
can be thousands of commands long, and combine the sounding case is typical.
Fortunately, large logic machines are almost always dework of hundreds of engineers.
Writing and debugging tool ows is an established engi- signed as assemblies of smaller logic machines. To save
neering specialty in companies that produce digital de- time, the smaller sub-machines are isolated by permasigns. The tool ow usually terminates in a detailed com- nently installed design for test circuitry, and are tested
puter le or set of les that describe how to physically independently.
construct the logic. Often it consists of instructions to One common test scheme known as scan design moves
draw the transistors and wires on an integrated circuit or test bits serially (one after another) from external test
equipment through one or more serial shift registers
a printed circuit board.
Parts of tool ows are debugged by verifying the out- known as scan chains. Serial scans have only one or
two wires to carry the data, and minimize the physical
puts of simulated logic against expected inputs. The test
tools take computer les with sets of inputs and outputs, size and expense of the infrequently used test logic.
and highlight discrepancies between the simulated behav- After all the test data bits are in place, the design is reior and the expected behavior.
congured to be in normal mode and one or more clock
Once the input data is believed correct, the design itself pulses are applied, to test for faults (e.g. stuck-at low or
must still be veried for correctness. Some tool ows ver- stuck-at high) and capture the test result into ip-ops
ify designs by rst producing a design, and then scanning and/or latches in the scan shift register(s). Finally, the rethe design to produce compatible input data for the tool sult of the test is shifted out to the block boundary and
ow. If the scanned data matches the input data, then the compared against the predicted good machine result.
In a board-test environment, serial to parallel testing has
The functional verication data are usually called test been formalized with a standard called "JTAG" (named
vectors. The functional test vectors may be preserved after the Joint Test Action Group that proposed it).
and used in the factory to test that newly constructed logic Another common testing scheme provides a test mode
tool ow has probably not introduced errors.
130
that forces some part of the logic machine to enter a test Digital machines rst became useful when the MTBF
cycle. The test cycle usually exercises large independent for a switch got above a few hundred hours. Even so,
parts of the machine.
many of these machines had complex, well-rehearsed repair procedures, and would be nonfunctional for hours
because a tube burned-out, or a moth got stuck in a relay.
Modern transistorized integrated circuit logic gates have
16.4.4 Trade-os
MTBFs greater than 82 billion hours (8.21010 ) hours,[7]
Several numbers determine the practicality of a system and need them because they have so many logic gates.
of digital logic: cost, reliability, fanout and speed. Engineers explored numerous electronic devices to get an
Fanout
ideal combination of these traits.
Fanout describes how many logic inputs can be controlled
by a single logic output without exceeding the current ratings of the gate.[8] The minimum practical fanout is about
The cost of a logic gate is crucial. In the 1930s, the earli- ve. Modern electronic logic using CMOS transistors for
est digital logic systems were constructed from telephone switches have fanouts near fty, and can sometimes go
relays because these were inexpensive and relatively reli- much higher.
able. After that, engineers always used the cheapest available electronic switches that could still fulll the requireSpeed
ments.
Cost
The earliest integrated circuits were a happy accident.

They were constructed not to save money, but to save
weight, and permit the Apollo Guidance Computer to
control an inertial guidance system for a spacecraft. The
rst integrated circuit logic gates cost nearly $50 (in 1960
dollars, when an engineer earned $10,000/year). To everyones surprise, by the time the circuits were massproduced, they had become the least-expensive method
of constructing digital logic. Improvements in this technology have driven all subsequent improvements in cost.
The switching speed describes how many times per second an inverter (an electronic representation of a logical
not function) can change from true to false and back.
Faster logic can accomplish more operations in less time.
Digital logic rst became useful when switching speeds
got above fty hertz, because that was faster than a team
of humans operating mechanical calculators. Modern
electronic digital logic routinely switches at ve gigahertz
(5109 hertz), and some laboratory systems switch at
more than a terahertz (11012 hertz).
With the rise of integrated circuits, reducing the absolute number of chips used represented another way to
save costs. The goal of a designer is not just to make the 16.4.5 Logic families
simplest circuit, but to keep the component count down.
Sometimes this results in slightly more complicated de- Main article: logic family
signs with respect to the underlying digital logic but nevertheless reduces the number of components, board size,
Design started with relays. Relay logic was relatively inand even power consumption.
expensive and reliable, but slow. Occasionally a mechanFor example, in some logic families, NAND gates are the ical failure would occur. Fanouts were typically about
simplest digital gate to build. All other logical operations ten, limited by the resistance of the coils and arcing on
can be implemented by NAND gates. If a circuit already the contacts from high voltages.
required a single NAND gate, and a single chip normally
carried four NAND gates, then the remaining gates could Later, vacuum tubes were used. These were very fast, but
be used to implement other logical operations like logical generated heat, and were unreliable because the laments
and. This could eliminate the need for a separate chip would burn out. Fanouts were typically ve to seven, limited by the heating from the tubes current. In the 1950s,
containing those dierent types of gates.
special computer tubes were developed with laments
that omitted volatile elements like silicon. These ran for
hundreds of thousands of hours.
Reliability
The reliability of a logic gate describes its mean time
between failure (MTBF). Digital machines often have
millions of logic gates. Also, most digital machines are
optimized to reduce their cost. The result is that often, the failure of a single logic gate will cause a digital
machine to stop working.
The rst semiconductor logic family was resistor

transistor logic. This was a thousand times more reliable
than tubes, ran cooler, and used less power, but had a very
low fan-in of three. Diodetransistor logic improved the
fanout up to about seven, and reduced the power. Some
DTL designs used two power-supplies with alternating
layers of NPN and PNP transistors to increase the fanout.
16.7. REFERENCES
Transistortransistor logic (TTL) was a great improvement over these. In early devices, fanout improved to
ten, and later variations reliably achieved twenty. TTL
was also fast, with some variations achieving switching
times as low as twenty nanoseconds. TTL is still used in
some designs.
Emitter coupled logic is very fast but uses a lot of power.
It was extensively used for high-performance computers
made up of many medium-scale components (such as the
Illiac IV).
131
Claude E. Shannon
Sequential logic
Transparent latch
Unconventional computing
16.7 References
By far, the most common digital integrated circuits built

today use CMOS logic, which is fast, oers high circuit
density and low-power per gate. This is used even in large,
fast computers, such as the IBM System z.
[1] Null, Linda; Lobur, Julia (2006). The essentials of computer organization and architecture. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 121. ISBN 0-7637-3769-0. We can build logic
diagrams (which in turn lead to digital circuits) for any
Boolean expression...
16.5 Recent developments
[2] Paul Horowitz and Wineld Hill, The Art of Electronics

2nd Ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989
ISBN 0-521-37095-7 page 471
In 2009, researchers discovered that memristors can implement a boolean state storage (similar to a ip op,
implication and logical inversion), providing a complete
logic family with very small amounts of space and power,
using familiar CMOS semiconductor processes.[9]
The discovery of superconductivity has enabled the development of rapid single ux quantum (RSFQ) circuit
technology, which uses Josephson junctions instead of
transistors. Most recently, attempts are being made to
construct purely optical computing systems capable of
processing digital information using nonlinear optical elements.
16.6 See also

Boolean algebra
Combinational logic
De Morgans laws
Digital signal processing
Formal verication
Integrated circuit
Logic family
Logic gate
Logic minimization
Logic simulation
Logical eort
Microelectronics
Ringing
[3] Maini. A.K. (2007). Digital Electronics Principals, Devices and Applications. Chichester, England.: Jonh Wiley
& Sons Ltd.
[4] ASODA sync/async DLX Core. OpenCores.org. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
[5] Clarke, Peter. ARM Oers First Clockless Processor
Core. eetimes.com. UBM Tech (Universal Business Media). Retrieved 5 September 2014.
[6] Brown S & Vranesic Z. (2009). Fundamentals of Digital
Logic with VHDL Design. 3rd ed. New York, N.Y.: Mc
Graw Hill.
[7] MIL-HDBK-217F notice 2, section 5.3, for 100,000 gate
0.8 micrometre CMOS commercial ICs at 40C; failure
rates in 2010 are better, because line sizes have decreased
to 0.045 micrometres, and fewer o-chip connections are
needed per gate.
[8] Kleitz , William. (2002). Digital and Microprocessor
Fundamentals: Theory and Application. 4th ed. Upper
Saddler Reviver, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall
[9] Eero Lehtonen, Mika Laihom, Stateful implication logic
with memristors, Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE/ACM
International Symposium on Nanoscale Architectures
IEEE Computer Society Washington, DC, USA 2009
Accessed 2011-12-11
R. H. Katz, Contemporary Logic Design, The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, 1994.

P. K. Lala, Practical Digital Logic Design and Testing, Prentice Hall, 1996.
Y. K. Chan and S. Y. Lim, Progress In Electromagnetics Research B, Vol. 1, 269290, 2008,"Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Signal Generation,
Faculty of Engineering & Technology, Multimedia
University, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, Bukit Beruang,
Melaka 75450, Malaysia
132
16.8 External links

Lessons in Electric Circuits - Volume IV (Digital)
MIT OpenCourseWare introduction to digital design class materials (6.004: Computation Structures)
16.9. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
133
16.9 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

16.9.1
Text
Electronic circuit Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_circuit?oldid=660025244 Contributors: William Avery, Glenn, Reddi,

Omegatron, Jondel, DavidCary, Lyght, Velella, Wtshymanski, RainbowOfLight, Mindmatrix, Robert K S, Cbdorsett, Eras-mus, Plrk,
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Nicolaasuni, VoABot II, 28421u2232nfenfcenc, Allstarecho, M 3bdelqader, MartinBot, Axlq, Jim.henderson, J.delanoy, Pharaoh of the
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139
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Integrated circuit Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuit?oldid=666998994 Contributors: Magnus Manske, Derek Ross,
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Koutsouveli, Sircakethough, Cole1917, Julietdeltalima, IEditEncyclopedia, Yasbetch, KasparBot, Confusion221 and Anonymous: 769
Breadboard Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadboard?oldid=662857942 Contributors: Aldie, Waveguy, Heron, Lumpbucket,
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140
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Seven Billion, Mnater900, Thomas W. Wilson, KasparBot, AqwertApple and Anonymous: 143
Perfboard Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfboard?oldid=645008431 Contributors: Klaus Leiss, Rich Farmbrough, Mandarax,
George Leung, Tole, 48v, Tony1, SmackBot, Kostmo, Alphathon, CmdrObot, Nick Number, Magioladitis, CommonsDelinker, Silverxxx,
Kyle the bot, Andy Dingley, Darsie from german wiki pedia, Vdaghan, Addbot, Mortense, Tothwolf, Ettrig, Yobot, Jim1138, Erik9bot,
Eric.archer, Rnabioullin, Joeinwiki and Anonymous: 21
Stripboard Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripboard?oldid=657003737 Contributors: Heron, Mahjongg, Kosebamse, Ahoerstemeier, Glenn, GRAHAMUK, Lewisdg2000, Klaus Leiss, Hubertus~enwiki, Ds13, Mboverload, Bobblewik, MementoVivere, Rich Farmbrough, Plugwash, Hooperbloob, MarkGallagher, Goldom, Nightstallion, MartinSpacek, Pol098, Mandarax, Josh Parris, Ian Dunster, Tofle, Pelago, Vivenot, DVD R W, SmackBot, Chris the speller, Thumperward, Kostmo, Audriusa, Ghiraddje, S Roper, Gregs, Scarletman,
Tawkerbot2, Ilikefood, Electron9, James086, Rehnn83, VoABot II, R'n'B, Juliancolton, VolkovBot, Hqb, SelketBot, Inductiveload, Andy
Dingley, Biscuittin, Phe-bot, Berserkerus, Leushenko, Wdwd, ClueBot, Ttzp, DragonBot, Chiefmanzzz, Addbot, Mortense, Tothwolf,
Beddingplane, Yobot, Crispmuncher, Piano non troppo, Teleprinter Sleuth, Gwideman, Louperibot, Vrenator, AvicAWB, Eric.archer,
Northgeer, ClueBot NG, Shanaey, MerlIwBot, Helpful Pixie Bot, BG19bot, Klilidiplomus, Joeinwiki, JamesMoose, Ginsuloft, Kindiana
and Anonymous: 52
Analogue electronics Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogue_electronics?oldid=666692020 Contributors: Heron, Jitse Niesen,
Alan Liefting, Alf Boggis, Mhowkins, Edward Z. Yang, Afed, Bobo192, Timl, Pearle, TheParanoidOne, Wtshymanski, Cburnett, RJFJR,
Sleigh, Stemonitis, Simetrical, SCEhardt, BD2412, George Burgess, ABot, FlaBot, Kerowyn, Gurch, Chobot, RussBot, Sanguinity, Jpbowen, EAderhold, Light current, Fourohfour, Neurogeek, Allens, SmackBot, Thorseth, Mdd4696, Evanreyes, Commander Keane bot,
Lindosland, KaiserbBot, Radagast83, Jaganath, Makyen, Dicklyon, ShelfSkewed, Casper2k3, AndrewHowse, A876, Corpx, Thijs!bot,
Mbell, Nick Number, Alphachimpbot, JAnDbot, R'n'B, Hans Dunkelberg, Moqueur roux, STBotD, Derfee, ICE77, Pgavin, AlnoktaBOT,
TXiKiBoT, Garett Long, Audioamp, Tresiden, Nestea Zen, Jp314159, Masgatotkaca, Steven Zhang, Binksternet, Brews ohare, JDPhD,
Gnowor, Addbot, Hence Jewish Anderstein, GyroMagician, Oldmountains, Quercus solaris, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Xqbot, FaleBot, Edwardkwt, RibotBOT, Kyng, FrescoBot, Micoru, Jschnur, RjwilmsiBot, AndyHe829, Donner60, 28bot, ClueBot NG, MerlIwBot, Helpful
Pixie Bot, Wbm1058, KLBot2, Teepu Ahmad, Justincheng12345-bot, Pratyya Ghosh, Skr15081997 and Anonymous: 81
Digital electronics Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_electronics?oldid=661595084 Contributors: AxelBoldt, Zundark, Perry
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Electronic Circuitry & Components

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What are the different types of electronic circuits discussed?

What are the different types of electronic circuits discussed?

How are electronic components classified?

How are electronic components classified?

Electronic Circuitry & Components

Compiled by Chad Mairn

Vacuum tubes (valves) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Magnetic (inductive) devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Transducers, sensors, detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Piezoelectric devices, crystals, resonators

Terminals and connectors

Electronic symbols and notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Series and parallel resistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Printed carbon resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thick and thin lm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.4.10 Foil resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.4.11 Ammeter shunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.4.12 Grid resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.4.13 Special varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Resistance decade boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Industrial type designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Electrical and thermal noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.10 Failure modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.11 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3.13 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comparison with vacuum tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bipolar junction transistor (BJT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Field-eect transistor (FET) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Usage of bipolar and eld-eect transistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Other transistor types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Part numbering standards / specications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

European Electronic Component Manufacturers Association (EECA) . . . . . . . . . . . .

Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Directory of external websites with datasheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.11 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.12 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Energy of electric eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Laplace circuit analysis (s-domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Current and voltage reversal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Electrolytic failure from disuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pulsed power and weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Suppression and coupling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hazards and safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ideal and real inductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Air core inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ferromagnetic core inductor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Laplace circuit analysis (s-domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6.11 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Vacuum tube diodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Shockley diode equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Types of semiconductor diode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Numbering and coding schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ionizing radiation detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7.10 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7.12 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Finishing, jacketing, and insulating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8.10 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Printed circuit board