Electronics comprises the physics, engineering, technology and applications that deal with the

emission, flow and control of electrons in vacuum and matter.[1]

It uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification and rectification, which
distinguishes it from classical electrical engineering which uses passive effects such
as resistance, capacitance and inductance to control current flow. Electronics has had a major
effect on the development of modern society. The identification of the electron in 1897, along
with the subsequent invention of the vacuum tube which could amplify and rectify small electrical
signals, inaugurated the field of electronics and the electron age.[2] This distinction started around
1906 with the invention by Lee De Forest of the triode, which made electrical amplification of
weak radio signals and audio signals possible with a non-mechanical device. Until 1950, this field
was called "radio technology" because its principal application was the design and theory of
radio transmitters, receivers, and vacuum tubes.
The term "solid-state electronics" emerged after the first working transistor was invented
by William Shockley, Walter Houser Brattain and John Bardeen at Bell Labs in 1947.
The MOSFET (MOS transistor) was later invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell
Labs in 1959. The MOSFET was the first truly compact transistor that could be miniaturised and
mass-produced for a wide range of uses, revolutionizing the electronics industry, and playing a
central role in the microelectronics revolution and Digital Revolution. The MOSFET has since
become the basic element in most modern electronic equipment, and is the most widely used
electronic device in the world.
Electronics is widely used in information processing, telecommunication, and signal processing.
The ability of electronic devices to act as switches makes digital information-processing possible.
Interconnection technologies such as circuit boards, electronics packaging technology, and other
varied forms of communication infrastructure complete circuit functionality and transform the
mixed electronic components into a regular working system, called an electronic system;
examples are computers or control systems. An electronic system may be a component of
another engineered system or a standalone device. As of 2019 most electronic
devices[3] use semiconductor components to perform electron control. Commonly, electronic
devices contain circuitry consisting of active semiconductors supplemented with passive
elements; such a circuit is described as an electronic circuit. Electronics deals with electrical
circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum
tubes, transistors, diodes, integrated circuits, optoelectronics, and sensors, associated passive
electrical components, and interconnection technologies. The nonlinear behaviour of active
components and their ability to control electron flows makes amplification of weak signals
possible.
The study of semiconductor devices and related technology is considered a branch of solid-state
physics, whereas the design and construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems
come under electronics engineering. This article focuses on engineering aspects of electronics.

Contents

 1Branches of electronics
 2Electronic devices and components
 3History of electronic components
 4Types of circuits
o 4.1Analog circuits
o 4.2Digital circuits
 5Heat dissipation and thermal management
 6Noise
 7Electronics theory
 8Electronics lab
 9Computer aided design (CAD)
 10Packaging methods
 11Electronic systems design
 12Mounting Options
 13Electronics industry
 14See also
 15References
 16Further reading
 17External links

Branches of electronics[edit]
Electronics has branches as follows:

1. Digital electronics
2. Analogue electronics
3. Microelectronics
4. Circuit design
5. Integrated circuits
6. Power electronics
7. Optoelectronics
8. Semiconductor devices
9. Embedded systems
10. Audio electronics
11. Telecommunications
12. nanoelectronics

Electronic devices and components[edit]

One of the earliest Audion radio receivers, constructed by De Forest in 1914.

Electronics Technician performing a voltage check on a power circuit card in the air navigation equipment
room aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

Main article: Electronic component

An electronic component is any physical entity in an electronic system used to affect
the electrons or their associated fields in a manner consistent with the intended function of the
electronic system. Components are generally intended to be connected together, usually by
being soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB), to create an electronic circuit with a particular
function (for example an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Components may be packaged
singly, or in more complex groups as integrated circuits. Some common electronic components
are capacitors, inductors, resistors, diodes, transistors, etc. Components are often categorized
as active (e.g. transistors and thyristors) or passive (e.g. resistors, diodes, inductors and
capacitors).[4]

History of electronic components[edit]

See also: History of electronic engineering and Timeline of electrical and electronic engineering
Vacuum tubes (Thermionic valves) were among the earliest electronic components.[5] They were
almost solely responsible for the electronics revolution of the first half of the twentieth century.[6]
[7]
 They allowed for vastly more complicated systems and gave us radio, television, phonographs,
radar, long-distance telephony and much more. They played a leading role in the field of
microwave and high power transmission as well as television receivers until the middle of the
1980s.[8] Since that time, solid-state devices have all but completely taken over. Vacuum tubes
are still used in some specialist applications such as high power RF amplifiers, cathode ray
tubes, specialist audio equipment, guitar amplifiers and some microwave devices.
The first working point-contact transistor was invented by John Bardeen and Walter Houser
Brattain at Bell Labs in 1947.[9] In April 1955, the IBM 608 was the first IBM product to
use transistor circuits without any vacuum tubes and is believed to be the first all-
transistorized calculator to be manufactured for the commercial market.[10][11] The 608 contained
more than 3,000 germanium transistors. Thomas J. Watson Jr. ordered all future IBM products to
use transistors in their design. From that time on transistors were almost exclusively used for
computer logic and peripherals. However, early junction transistors were relatively bulky devices
that were difficult to manufacture on a mass-production basis, which limited them to a number of
specialised applications.[12]
The MOSFET (MOS transistor) was invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs
in 1959.[13][14][15][16] The MOSFET was the first truly compact transistor that could be miniaturised and
mass-produced for a wide range of uses.[12] Its advantages include high scalability,[17] affordability,
[18]
 low power consumption, and high density.[19] It revolutionized the electronics industry,[20]
[21]
 becoming the most widely used electronic device in the world.[15][22] The MOSFET is the basic
element in most modern electronic equipment,[23][24] and has been central to the electronics
revolution,[25] the microelectronics revolution,[26] and the Digital Revolution.[16][27][28] The MOSFET has
thus been credited as the birth of modern electronics,[29][30] and possibly the most important
invention in electronics.[31]

Types of circuits[edit]
Circuits and components can be divided into two groups: analog and digital. A particular device
may consist of circuitry that has one or the other or a mix of the two types.

Analog circuits[edit]
Main article: Analog electronics
Hitachi J100 adjustable frequency drive chassis

Most analog electronic appliances, such as radio receivers, are constructed from combinations of

a few types of basic circuits. Analog circuits use a continuous range of voltage or current as
opposed to discrete levels as in digital circuits.
The number of different analog circuits so far devised is huge, especially because a 'circuit' can
be defined as anything from a single component, to systems containing thousands of
components.
Analog circuits are sometimes called linear circuits although many non-linear effects are used in
analog circuits such as mixers, modulators, etc. Good examples of analog circuits include
vacuum tube and transistor amplifiers, operational amplifiers and oscillators.
One rarely finds modern circuits that are entirely analog. These days analog circuitry may use
digital or even microprocessor techniques to improve performance. This type of circuit is usually
called "mixed signal" rather than analog or digital.
Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate between analog and digital circuits as they have
elements of both linear and non-linear operation. An example is the comparator which takes in a
continuous range of voltage but only outputs one of two levels as in a digital circuit. Similarly, an
overdriven transistor amplifier can take on the characteristics of a controlled switch having
essentially two levels of output. In fact, many digital circuits are actually implemented as
variations of analog circuits similar to this example – after all, all aspects of the real physical
world are essentially analog, so digital effects are only realized by constraining analog behavior.

Digital circuits[edit]
Main article: Digital electronics
Digital circuits are electric circuits based on a number of discrete voltage levels. Digital circuits
are the most common physical representation of Boolean algebra, and are the basis of all digital
computers. To most engineers, the terms "digital circuit", "digital system" and "logic" are
interchangeable in the context of digital circuits. Most digital circuits use a binary system with two
voltage levels labeled "0" and "1". Often logic "0" will be a lower voltage and referred to as "Low"
while logic "1" is referred to as "High". However, some systems use the reverse definition ("0" is
"High") or are current based. Quite often the logic designer may reverse these definitions from
one circuit to the next as he sees fit to facilitate his design. The definition of the levels as "0" or
"1" is arbitrary.
Ternary (with three states) logic has been studied, and some prototype computers made.
Computers, electronic clocks, and programmable logic controllers (used to control industrial
processes) are constructed of digital circuits. Digital signal processors are another example.
Building blocks:
 Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET)
 Logic gates
 Adders
 Flip-flops
 Counters
 Registers
 Multiplexers
 Schmitt triggers
Highly integrated devices:

 Memory chip
 Microprocessors
 Microcontrollers
 Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
 Digital signal processor (DSP)
 Field-programmable gate array (FPGA)

Heat dissipation and thermal management[edit]

Main article: Thermal management of electronic devices and systems
Heat generated by electronic circuitry must be dissipated to prevent immediate failure and
improve long term reliability. Heat dissipation is mostly achieved by passive
conduction/convection. Means to achieve greater dissipation include heat sinks and fans for air
cooling, and other forms of computer cooling such as water cooling. These techniques
use convection, conduction, and radiation of heat energy.

Noise[edit]
Main article: Electronic noise
Electronic noise is defined[32] as unwanted disturbances superposed on a useful signal that tend
to obscure its information content. Noise is not the same as signal distortion caused by a circuit.
Noise is associated with all electronic circuits. Noise may be electromagnetically or thermally
generated, which can be decreased by lowering the operating temperature of the circuit. Other
types of noise, such as shot noise cannot be removed as they are due to limitations in physical
properties.

Electronics theory[edit]
Main article: Mathematical methods in electronics
Mathematical methods are integral to the study of electronics. To become proficient in electronics
it is also necessary to become proficient in the mathematics of circuit analysis.
Circuit analysis is the study of methods of solving generally linear systems for unknown variables
such as the voltage at a certain node or the current through a certain branch of a network. A
common analytical tool for this is the SPICE circuit simulator.
Also important to electronics is the study and understanding of electromagnetic field theory.

Electronics lab[edit]
Main article: Electronic circuit simulation
Due to the complex nature of electronics theory, laboratory experimentation is an important part
of the development of electronic devices. These experiments are used to test or verify the
engineer's design and detect errors. Historically, electronics labs have consisted of electronics
devices and equipment located in a physical space, although in more recent years the trend has
been towards electronics lab simulation software, such as CircuitLogix, Multisim, and PSpice.

Computer aided design (CAD)[edit]

Main article: Electronic design automation
Today's electronics engineers have the ability to design circuits using premanufactured building
blocks such as power supplies, semiconductors (i.e. semiconductor devices, such as transistors),
and integrated circuits. Electronic design automation software programs include schematic
capture programs and printed circuit board design programs. Popular names in the EDA software
world are NI Multisim, Cadence (ORCAD), EAGLE PCB and Schematic, Mentor (PADS PCB and
LOGIC Schematic), Altium (Protel), LabCentre Electronics (Proteus), gEDA, KiCad and many
others.

Packaging methods[edit]
Main article: Electronic packaging
Many different methods of connecting components have been used over the years. For instance,
early electronics often used point to point wiring with components attached to wooden
breadboards to construct circuits. Cordwood construction and wire wrap were other methods
used. Most modern day electronics now use printed circuit boards made of materials such
as FR4, or the cheaper (and less hard-wearing) Synthetic Resin Bonded Paper (SRBP, also
known as Paxoline/Paxolin (trade marks) and FR2) – characterised by its brown colour. Health
and environmental concerns associated with electronics assembly have gained increased
attention in recent years, especially for products destined to the European Union, with
its Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Directive (WEEE), which went into force in July 2006.

Electronic systems design[edit]

Main article: Systems engineering
Electronic systems design deals with the multi-disciplinary design issues of complex electronic
devices and systems, such as mobile phones and computers. The subject covers a broad
spectrum, from the design and development of an electronic system (new product development)
to assuring its proper function, service life and disposal.[33] Electronic systems design is therefore
the process of defining and developing complex electronic devices to satisfy
specified requirements of the user.

Mounting Options[edit]
Electrical components are generally mounted in the following ways:

 Through-hole (sometimes referred to as 'Pin-Through-Hole')

 Surface Mount
 Chassis Mount
 LGA/BGA/PGA Socket

Electronics industry[edit]
Main article: Electronics industry
Further information: Consumer electronics, List of best-selling electronic devices,
and Semiconductor industry
The electronics industry consists of various sectors. The central driving force behind the entire
electronics industry is the semiconductor industry sector,[34] which has annual sales of over $481
billion as of 2018.[35] The largest industry sector is e-commerce, which generated over $29
trillion in 2017.[36] The most widely manufactured electronic device is the metal-oxide-
semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), with an estimated 13 sextillion MOSFETs having
been manufactured between 1960 and 2018.[37]

See also