Electronic switch

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In electronics, an electronic switch is a switch controlled by an active electronic component or device. Without using moving parts, they are called solid state switches, which distinguishes them from mechanical switches.[1]

Electronic switches are considered

electrical circuit
between two extremes when switching between their two states of on and off.

History

Many people use metonymy to call a variety of devices that conceptually connect or disconnect signals and communication paths between electrical devices as "switches", analogous to the way mechanical switches connect and disconnect paths for electrons to flow between two conductors.

The traditional

silicon-controlled rectifier or triac
).

circuit switched, providing dedicated circuits for communication between end nodes, such as the public switched telephone network
.

The term switch has since spread to a variety of digital

signal
lines.

The common feature of all these usages is they refer to devices that control a

binary state
of either on or off, closed or open, connected or not connected, conducting or not conducting, low impedance or high impedance.

Types

The

1N4148
, are called "switching diodes".

Vacuum tubes can be used in high voltage
applications.

The transistor can be operated as a switch. The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) cutoff and saturation regions of operation can respectively be treated as a closed and open switch.

The most widely used electronic switch in

metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET).[2]

The analogue switch uses two MOSFET transistors in a transmission gate arrangement as a switch that works much like a relay, with some advantages and several limitations compared to an electromechanical relay.

The

switching voltage regulator, such as a power supply unit
, are used like a switch to alternately let power flow and block power from flowing.

Hall switches are a type of

threshold detection to produce a magnetically
-operated switch.

The

phototransistor to switch a galvanically-isolated
circuit.

The insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) combines advantages of BJTs and power MOSFETs.

A silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) can be used for high speed switching for power control application.

A TRIAC (TRIode AC), equivalent to two back-to-back SCRs, is a bidirectional switching device.

A DIAC stands for DIode AC Switch.

A gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) is a bipolar switching device.

Electronic switches may also consist of complex configurations that are assisted by physical contact, for instance resistive or

touchscreens
.

computers in a computer network
.

Applications

Electronic switches are used in all kinds of common and industrial applications.

See also

References

  1. ^ Teja, Ravi (2021-05-03). "What is a Switch? What are the Different Types of Switches?". ElectronicsHub. Archived from the original on 2023-01-23. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  2. ISBN 978-0-07-460040-5
    .
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