The Maplin Electronic Circuits Handbook, 2nd Edition

2 Semiconductors

The term semiconductor covers many devices, from the humblest diode

to the very latest VLSI integrated circuit. Modern electronic systems rely

on such devices to fulfil an immense variety of applications; from power

rectification to digital frequency synthesis. Despite the obvious differences

in cost and complexity, it is important to remember that all such devices

rely on the same fundamental principles.

This section provides an introduction to a variety of the most commonly

used semiconductor devices. However, as with other sections, we shall not

concern ourselves too much with principles of operation (the necessary

theor ...