Electronics Directory

Electronics, science and technology based on and concerned with the controlled flow of electrons or other carriers of electric charge, especially in semiconductor devices. It is one of the principal branches of electrical engineering. The invention of the transistor, announced in 1948, and the subsequent development of integrated circuits have brought about revolutionary changes in electronics, which was previously based on the technology of the electron tube. The miniaturization and savings in power brought about by these developments have allowed electronic circuits to be packaged more densely, making possible compact computers, advanced radar and navigation systems, and other devices that use very large numbers of components.

The field of electronics is the study and use of systems that operate by controlling the flow of electrons or other electrically charged particles in devices such as thermionic valves and semiconductors. The design and construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems is part of the fields of electronics engineering, and the hardware design side of computer engineering. The study of new semiconductor devices and their technology is sometimes considered as a branch of physics. This page focuses on engineering aspects of electronics.