tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post1422048406700026390..comments2024-03-29T03:57:26.974-04:00Comments on Grim's Hall: What are semi-conductor chips?Grimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-34804318173125040882015-01-05T11:45:22.812-05:002015-01-05T11:45:22.812-05:00No matter how hard I try to get used to the idea t...No matter how hard I try to get used to the idea that electricity and light are part of the same phenomenon, I never quite get over the surprise and delight of seeing one turn into the other. You back up electricity and it gets spit out as light. You take light into a solar cell and it comes back out as electricity (or chemical bonds). I know that light is just a jiggling electromagnetic field, but I'm still bemused every time! Light, electricity, chemistry: all the same thing.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-35331084083608435022015-01-05T11:32:15.856-05:002015-01-05T11:32:15.856-05:00An LED is a semi-conductor device. "Light Em...An LED is a semi-conductor device. "Light Emitting Diode" is the full name. A diode is an electronic one-way valve that only allows electrons to pass though it in one direction. Like a mechanical one-way valve, however, sufficient back-pressure can exceed the valve's capacity to resist. In a mechanical one-way valve this would result in a broken valve or a burst pipe. In the case of an LED it results in the emittance of light - and compared to an incandescent or even a fluorescent bulb, a very efficient emittance.RonFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346484258194484053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-26485233081767842312015-01-04T10:39:45.513-05:002015-01-04T10:39:45.513-05:00Semiconductors really did feel like magic.
We obv...Semiconductors really did feel like magic.<br /><br />We obviously need more Wise Latinas and authentic Native Americans telling us, "you didn't build that".<br /><br />Ymar Sakarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-55749768112495816102014-12-31T12:14:50.048-05:002014-12-31T12:14:50.048-05:00Thanks, David, I've just gone over and read yo...Thanks, David, I've just gone over and read your link, especially enjoying the thoughts about top-down and bottom-up economies and how they exploit technological advances. It was exciting to listen to my nanotech lecturers describe their research groups, where there is incredible ferment that would quickly be squelched if wise central bureaucrats were put in charge of deciding which ideas were worth expending society's resources on. Not that they aren't focused on how to write grant proposals that will yield federal money, but they're obviously also pitching to alert and eager venture capitalists. Both of them had a sharp eye on commercial applications, while keeping in mind that many of their best ideas are coming from undirected fooling around with first principles--"I wonder if we can do this? How about this?"--and then someone comes along and says, "Hey, you know what we might use that for?"<br /><br />There's always some Goering in the wings saying, "My people don't need this or that," as if he had any idea what people need, or what will become useful and world-changing once it's out there. Guys like that can't tolerate the idea that someone else--lots of someone elses--will decide for themselves what's useful.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5173950.post-67374973519169693122014-12-30T21:35:27.452-05:002014-12-30T21:35:27.452-05:00May be of interest: my post about missed European...May be of interest: my post about missed European opportunities in the semiconductor industry: Leaving a Trillion on the Table<br /><br />http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/6743.html<br /><br />(although in retrospect, "trillion" greatly understated the amount of wealth involved)David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.com