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Electronic switches now vital in every digital device
Thursday 08 Jun 2017 Author: Steven Frazer

This year will mark the 70th birthday of the semiconductor transistor. Transistors are basically switches used to amplify or alter electronic signals. They are most commonly used these days as digital versions on microchips for binary coding, the almost infinity long strings of 1s and 0s that make your computer, mobile phone or any electronic gadget or bit of kit work.

American physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley first demonstrated the technology to Bell Labs managers in 1947, and collectively won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1956 for their work.

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