Electrical circuit element, and its applications

847,530. Semiconductor circuits. T.I. (GROUP SERVICES) Ltd. July 8, 1958 [July 10, 1957; Aug. 15, 1957; Dec. 23, 1957; May 1, 1958], Nos. 21815/57, 25753/57, 39824/57 and 13860/58. Class 40(6). [Also in Group XXXVI] An electric circuit element which, due to its physical shape, resistance-temperature coefficient, and thermal conductivity-temperature coefficient, has an electric current-potential difference characteristic having a region of zero or negative slope, may be used in circuits for amplifiers, oscillators, constant current sources, adders, gates, storage devices and mixers. Fig. 23 shows such an element, X, called a constrictor in the Specification, used as an amplifier, the battery B biasing the constrictor to the negative part of its characteristic. Fig. 25 shows the series connection of two similar amplifiers using transformer coupling. Fig 26 shows an oscillator circuit using the constrictor X in parallel with a turned circuit L.C.R. fed from a battery through a choke H. Fig. 27 shows a constrictor, having a characteristic with a region of zero slope, used as a constant current device to feed a load Z. Fig. 29 shows an adding circuit or coincidence gate using two constrictors with a flat region in their characteristics so that the current through each constrictor is independent of the current through the other. Fig. 30 shows a storage device using two constrictors having characteristics as shown in Fig. 7 giving a composite characteristic as shown in Fig. 31 showing that the voltage at junction A in Fig. 30 has 3 possible values of which the positions Y are stable, the potential remaining at one of these states until switched to the other by an externally applied current or voltage pulse. Similarly using constrictors having characteristics as shown in Fig. 10 a storage device with three stable states may be obtained.