An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an el

ectronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic

components are mostly industrial products, available in a singular form and are
not to be confused with electrical elements, which are conceptual abstractions r
epresenting idealized electronic components.
Electronic components have a number of electrical terminals or leads. These lead
s connect to create an electronic circuit with a particular function (for exampl
e an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Basic electronic components may
be packaged discretely, as arrays or networks of like components, or integrated
inside of packages such as semiconductor integrated circuits, hybrid integrated
circuits, or thick film devices. The following list of electronic components foc
uses on the discrete version of these components, treating such packages as comp
onents in their owner right
Classification[edit]
Components can be classified as passive, active, or electromechanic. The strict
physics definition treats passive components as ones that cannot supply energy t
hemselves, whereas a battery would be seen as an active component since it truly
acts as a source of energy.
However, electronic engineers who perform circuit analysis use a more restrictiv
e definition of passivity. When only concerned with the energy of signals, it is
convenient to ignore the so-called DC circuit and pretend that the power supply
ing components such as transistors or integrated circuits is absent (as if each
such component had its own battery built in), though it may in reality be suppli
ed by the DC circuit. Then, the analysis only concerns the AC circuit, an abstra
ction that ignores DC voltages and currents (and the power associated with them)
present in the real-life circuit. This fiction, for instance, lets us view an o
scillator as "producing energy" even though in reality the oscillator consumes e
ven more energy from a DC power supply, which we have chosen to ignore. Under th
at restriction, we define the terms as used in circuit analysis as:
Active components rely on a source of energy (usually from the DC circuit, which
we have chosen to ignore) and usually can inject power into a circuit, though t
his is not part of the definition.[1] [2]Active components include amplifying co
mponents such as transistors, triode vacuum tubes (valves), and tunnel diodes.
Passive components can't introduce net energy into the circuit. They also can't
rely on a source of power, except for what is available from the (AC) circuit th
ey are connected to. As a consequence they can't amplify (increase the power of
a signal), although they may increase a voltage or current (such as is done by a
transformer or resonant circuit). Passive components include two-terminal compo
nents such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers.
Electromechanical components can carry out electrical operations by using moving
parts or by using electrical connections
Most passive components with more than two terminals can be described in terms o
f two-port parameters that satisfy the principle of reciprocity though there are r
are exceptions.[3] In contrast, active components (with more than two terminals)
generally lack that property.
Active components[edit]
Semiconductors[edit]
Diodes[edit]
Conduct electricity easily in one direction, among more specific behaviors.
Diode, Rectifier, Bridge rectifier
Schottky diode, hot carrier diode super fast diode with lower forward voltage dr
op
Zener diode Passes current in reverse direction to provide a constant voltage re
ference
Transient voltage suppression diode (TVS), Unipolar or Bipolar used to absorb hi
gh-voltage spikes
Varactor, Tuning diode, Varicap, Variable capacitance diode A diode whose AC cap
acitance varies according to the DC voltage applied.
Various examples of Light-emitting diodes
Light-emitting diode (LED) A diode that emits light
Photodiode Passes current in proportion to incident light
Avalanche photodiode Photodiode with internal gain
Solar Cell, photovoltaic cell, PV array or panel, produces power from light
DIAC (Diode for Alternating Current), Trigger Diode, SIDAC) Often used to trigge
r an SCR
Constant-current diode
Peltier cooler A semiconductor heat pump
Tunnel diode - very fast diode based on quantum mechanical tunneling
Transistors[edit]
Transistors were considered the invention of the twentieth century that changed
electronic circuits forever. A transistor is a semiconductor device used to ampl
ify and switch electronic signals and electrical power.
Transistors
Bipolar junction transistor (BJT, or simply "transistor") NPN or PNP
Photo transistor Amplified photodetector
Darlington transistor NPN or PNP
Photo Darlington Amplified photodetector
Sziklai pair (Compound transistor, complementary Darlington)
Field-effect transistor (FET)
JFET (Junction Field-Effect Transistor) N-CHANNEL or P-CHANNEL
MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor FET) N-CHANNEL or P-CHANNEL
MESFET (MEtal Semiconductor FET)
HEMT (High electron mobility transistor)
Thyristors
Silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) Passes current only after triggered by a suff
icient control voltage on its gate
TRIAC (TRIode for Alternating Current) Bidirectional SCR
Unijunction transistor (UJT)
Programmable Unijunction transistor (PUT)
SIT (Static induction transistor)
SITh (Static induction thyristor)
Composite transistors
IGBT (Insulated-gate bipolar transistor)
Integrated circuits[edit]
Digital
Analog
Hall effect sensor senses a magnetic field.
Current sensor Senses a current through it
Optoelectronic devices[edit]
Opto-electronics
Opto-Isolator, Opto-Coupler, Photo-Coupler Photodiode, BJT, JFET, SCR, TRIAC, Ze
ro-crossing TRIAC, Open collector IC, CMOS IC, Solid state relay (SSR)
Opto switch, Opto interrupter, Optical switch, Optical interrupter, Photo switch
, Photo interrupter
LED display Seven-segment display, Sixteen-segment display, Dot-matrix display
Display technologies[edit]
Current:
Filament lamp (indicator lamp)
Vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) (preformed characters, 7 segment, starburst)
Cathode ray tube (CRT) (dot matrix scan, radial scan (e.g. radar), arbitrary sca
n (e.g. oscilloscope)) (monochrome & colour)
LCD (preformed characters, dot matrix) (passive, TFT) (monochrome, colour)
Neon (individual, 7 segment display)
LED (individual, 7 segment display, starburst display, dot matrix)
Flap indicator (numeric, preprinted messages)
Plasma display (dot matrix)
Obsolete:
Incandescent filament 7 segment display (aka 'Numitron')
Nixie Tube
Dekatron (aka glow transfer tube)
Magic eye tube indicator
Penetron (a 2 colour see-through CRT)
Vacuum tubes (valves)[edit]
A vacuum tube is based on current conduction through a vacuum (see Vacuum tube).
Diode or rectifier tube
Amplifying tubes
Triode
Tetrode
Pentode
Hexode
Pentagrid
Octode
Microwave tubes
Klystron
Magnetron
Traveling-wave tube
Optical detectors or emitters
Phototube or Photodiode tube equivalent of semiconductor photodiode
Photomultiplier tube Phototube with internal gain
Cathode ray tube (CRT) or television picture tube
Vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) Modern non-raster sort of small CRT display
Magic eye tube Small CRT display used as a tuning meter (obsolete)
X-ray tube Produces x-rays
Discharge devices[edit]
Gas discharge tube
Obsolete:
Mercury arc rectifier
Voltage regulator tube
Nixie tube
Thyratron
Ignitron
Power sources[edit]
Sources of electrical power:
Battery acid- or alkali-based power supply
Fuel cell an electrochemical generator
Power supply usually a main hook-up
Photo voltaic device generates electricity from light
Thermo electric generator generates electricity from temperature gradients
Electrical generator an electromechanical power source
Piezoelectric pressure - creates electricity from mechanical strain
Van de Graaferator - Van de Graaff generator or essentially creating voltage fro
m friction