AI-4
INDUCTANCE—The properties of a circuit that tend to oppose any change in current flow.
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT—A circuit in which many elements are fabricated and interconnected by a
single process (into a single chip), as opposed to a "nonintegrated" circuit in which the transistors,
diodes, resistors, and other components are fabricated separately and then assembled.
JUNCTION DIODE—A two-terminal device containing a single crystal of semiconducting material,
which ranges from P-type at one terminal to N-type at the other.
JUNCTION TRANSISTOR—A bipolar transistor constructed from interacting PN junctions. The term
is used to distinguish junction transistors from other types such as field-effect and point-contact.
LC CAPACITOR-INPUT FILTER—This is the most common type of filter. It is used in a power
supply where output current is low and load current is relatively constant.
LC CHOKE-INPUT FILTER—This filter is used in power supplies where voltage regulation is
important and where the output current is relatively high and subject to varying load conditions.
LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE (LED)—A PN junction diode that emits visible light when it is forward
biased. Depending on the material used to make the diode, the light may be red, green or amber.
LINEAR—Having an output that varies in direct proportion to the input.
MAJORITY CARRIERS—The mobile charge carriers (holes or electrons) that are predominate in a
semiconductor material; for example, electrons in an N-type region.
METAL-OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTOR—See MOSFET.
METALLIC RECTIFIER—Also known as a DRY-DISC RECTIFIER. A metal to semiconductor
large-area contact device in which a semiconductor is sandwiched between two metal plates. This
asymmetrical construction permits current to flow more readily in one direction than the other.
MICROELECTRONICS—The solid-state concept of electronics in which compact semiconductor
materials are designed to function as an entire circuit or subassembly rather than as circuit
components.
MINORITY CARRIERS—Either electrons or holes, whichever is the less dominant carrier in a
semiconductor device. In P-type semiconductors, electrons are the minority carriers; in N-type
semiconductors, the holes are the minority carriers.
MINORITY CURRENT—A very small current that passes through the base-to-collector junction when
this junction is reverse biased.
MODULAR CIRCUITRY—A technique where printed circuit boards are stacked and connected
together to form a module.
MONOLITHIC CIRCUIT—A circuit where all elements (resistors, transistors, etc.) associated with the
circuit are fabricated inseparably within a continuous piece of material (called the substrate), usually
silicon.
METAL-OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTOR—See MOSFET.
