Britannica Sources used in this answer

Who coined the name transistor?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

NMOS transistorNegative-channel metal-oxide semiconductors (NMOS) employ a positive secondary voltage to switch a shallow layer of p-type semiconductor material below the gate into n-type. For positive-channel metal-oxide semiconductors (PMOS), all these polarities are reversed. NMOS transistors are more expensive, but faster, than PMOS transistors. — transistor NMOS transistor
Negative-channel metal-oxide semiconductors (NMOS) employ a positive secondary voltage to switch a shallow layer of p-type semiconductor material below the gate into n-type. For positive-channel metal-oxide semiconductors (PMOS), all these polarities are reversed. NMOS transistors are more expensive, but faster, than PMOS transistors.

The name transistor was coined in May 1948 by John Robinson Pierce, an electrical engineer at Bell Labs who was also a science-fiction author. The term is a portmanteau derived from the words transfer and resistor.1