Introduction to Electronics

Electronics

• The field of science and engineering that deals with electronic devices and their applications.

Applications

• Communication & Entertainment: Radio, TV broadcasting, Telephone, Mobile Devices.

• Defense: RADAR (Radio Detection And Ranging), Drones.

• Instrumentation: Signal generator, spectrum analyzer, CRO (Cathode Ray Oscilloscope).

• Industry: Robots in manufacturing, lasers, mills, pumps.

• Medical: X-ray, ECG, instruments to measure vital signs.

• Automobile: Engine, driver assistance, cooling system.

• Consumer Electronics: Home appliances.

Evolution of Electronics

• Vacuum Tubes: Birth in 1904 with the vacuum diode developed by John Ambrose Fleming.
• Transistors: Invented in 1947 by William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain at Bell Laboratories.
• Integrated Circuits (ICs): Developed in 1957-58 by Jack Kilby (Texas Instruments) and Robert Noyce (Fairchild Semiconductors).

Vacuum Tube

• "Thermionic Emission" – discharge of electrons from heated materials, used as a source of electrons in conventional electron tubes.
• Two electrodes: Cathode and Anode.
• Heater heats cathode to emit electrons.
• When anode is made positive compared to cathode, electrons flow from cathode to anode through vacuum.
• Triodes developed by Lee De Forest in 1906, the first practical electronic amplifier.
• Further addition of grids in triodes led to Tetrodes, Pentodes, etc.
• Vacuum tubes are bulky, filaments burn out frequently, require high voltages, and have large energy dissipation.

Transistor

• Three terminals: Emitter, Base, and Collector.
• Replaced vacuum tubes due to smaller size.
• Primarily manufactured from silicon and germanium.
• More reliable, durable, and cheaper than vacuum tubes.
• A voltage/current applied to one pair of terminals controls the current through another pair, amplifying the signal.

Integrated Circuits

• Miniaturization of transistors led to the development of ICs.
• All required components can be integrated on a single chip.
• Integration level of ICs determines the number transistors in a chip.

Integration Levels

• Small-scale Integration (SSI): Less than 100 transistors per chip (1950s).
• Medium-scale Integration (MSI): 100 to 1000 transistors per chip (1960s).
• Large-scale Integration (LSI): 1000 to 10,000 transistors per chip (1970s).
• Very Large-scale Integration (VLSI): 10,000 to 100,000 transistors per chip (1980s).
• Ultra Large-scale Integration (ULSI): 100,000 to 1,000,000 transistors per chip (1990s).
• Super Large-scale Integration (SLSI): 1,000,000 to 100,000,000 transistors per chip (2000s).
• Extra-large-scale integration (ELSI): 100,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 transistors per chip (2010s).
• Giant large-scale integration (GLSI): More than 1,000,000,000 transistors per chip (2020s).

Moore’s Law

• Named after Intel cofounder Gordon E. Moore.
• States that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles approximately every two years.
• Transistor sizes become smaller.
• Power consumption and cost decrease.
• Memory capacity and speed increase.

Electronic Components

• Active Components: Rely on an external power source to control or modify electrical signals.

  • Example: Diodes, Transistors, Op-amps, Voltage sources, Current sources.

• Passive Components: Incapable of controlling current by another electrical signal.

  • Example: Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors, Transformers.

This quiz explores the fundamental concepts of electronics, including its applications in communication, defense, and medical fields. Additionally, it covers the evolution of electronic devices from vacuum tubes to integrated circuits, highlighting key inventions and their impact. Test your knowledge of the significant advancements in electronics!