Conductors and Insulators
Materials can be classified depending on whether they allow charge to move. If charge can easily move through a material, these materials are called conductors. If charge cannot move through a material, then this material is called an insulator. More ...
Alternating Current
With DC (Direct Current), electric current flows in only one direction. With AC (Alternating Current), current direction reverses periodically. More ...
Capacitors
A capacitor is an electronic component that can store electric charge. A capacitor is constructed with two conductive plates separated by an insulator called a dielectric. More ...
Zener Diode
A zener diode is similar to a standard diode allowing current flow in the forward direction except the semiconductor is more heavily doped and this allows it to operate in the reverse-bias break down mode. More ...
Electromagnetic Devices
Electromagnetic devices work based on the relationship between electrical current and a magnetic field. They are used to control valves, cooling and heating systems, relays, and electric motors. More ...
RMS Used in AC Circuit Analysis
Because the value of an AC signal is continuously varying, it would be difficult to use formulas such as ohms law. In the specific case of a sine wave, the Root Mean Square (RMS) of the wave is used instead. More ...
How to Read a Capacitor's Values
Due to the limited space available for printing, physically small capacitors are especially difficult to read. Therefore capacitors use a wide variety of codes to describe their characteristics. More ...
RC Filters
An RC filter can accept input sinewave signals and block certain bands of frquencies, thus allowing to pass only desired frquencies. This section describes passive RC filters. A passive RC filter uses only resistors and capacitors. More ...
Operational Amplifier
An operational amplifier (op amp) is an amplifier circuit with a differential input, in other words it amplifies the voltage difference between its two inputs. The open-loop gain of an op amp is typically very large so normally, it's configured with negative feedback to reduce the gain. More ...
Magnetism Permeability and Retentivity
Permeability is a property of a material that describes the ease with which magnetic flux is established in the material. Retentivity is a materials ability to retain a certain amount of residual magnetism after the magnetizing force is removed. More ...
The Diode
A diode is a semiconductor component designed to allow current to pass in one direction. To form a diode, a P type semiconductor is joined with an N type of the same semiconductor element, forming a P-N junction. Diodes are used for turning AC to DC, isolating signals, and mixing signals. More ...
Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Pattern Transfer
The integrated circuit manufacturing photolithographic pattern transfer process requires a variety of physical and chemical processes performed on a semiconductor substrate. More ...
Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Packaging
Before ICs can be put to their intended use they must be packaged. The package is responsible for interconnecting, powering, cooling, and protecting the IC. More ...
Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET)
A Junction Field Effect Transistor (JFET) consists of a channel and a pn junction. The gate controls the conductance of the channel. A JFET is a voltage controlled device, therefore no current flows into the gate. More ...
