Solid State

What Does Solid State Mean?

Solid state refers to electronic devices with a physical architecture made of solid and non-moving elements and components. The compounds in a solid state device are engineered in such a way that they can switch and amplify the electric current.

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Techopedia Explains Solid State

Solid state is the opposite of vacuum tube technology, which depended on the continuous and free flow of electron charges with a vacuum. It is also used in contrast to any device with a moving part, such as a hard disk drive (HDD). Solid state technology is primarily used to build devices with a semiconductor able to manage the flow of positive and negative electric charges.

Electronic and computing devices built on solid state technology include transistors, insulators, integrated circuits (IC), memory and storage equipment, with the exception of electromechanical devices.

A great example of the usage of solid state is in flash memory for mobile devices, such as tablets or USB keys. It is not possible to put a hard drive in a mobile device because moving parts are required. As such, there is a general trend towards the economical pricing of solid state storage.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…