Transistor

Definition

A basic solid-state control device which allows or disallows current flow between two terminals, based on the voltage or current delivered to a third terminal.

Usually built from silicon but can be constructed from other semiconductor materials. There are two major types: The field-effect transistor (FET) and the bipolar junction transistor (BJT).

The first transistor was invented in 1947 at Bell Labs by Michael John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley.