solid state
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Related to solid state: Solid state drive, Solid state physics
solid state
[′säl·əd ′stāt] (engineering)
Pertaining to a circuit, device, or system that depends on some combination of electrical, magnetic, and optical phenomena within a solid that is usually a crystalline semiconductor material.
(physics)
The condition of a substance in which it is a solid.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
solid state
(electronics)(Often hyphenated when used as an adjective) A
term describing any device that uses semiconductor
components rather than electron tubes or relays.
Semiconductors are "solid" in that they contain no gas
("vacuum" tubes contain a small amount as the vacuum is not
perfect) or moving parts (like relays), but probably more
important is the connotation of reliability and durability
that made possible things like portable radios.
This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)
solid state
Non mechanical. Solid state refers to electronic circuits composed of transistors, resistors, capacitors and other components, which may be discrete, single devices, or millions of them can be created in a single chip. For example, microprocessors and memories are all solid state. In a solid state device, there is no mechanical action, although an unbelievable amount of electromagnetic action takes place within.A computer has solid state and non-solid state parts. The solid state components are the motherboard, chips, screen, camera and optical mouse, while the hard drive, CD/DVD drive, fans, keyboard, microphone and speakers have mechanical components.
Faster and More Reliable Storage
For data storage, solid state devices are faster and more reliable than mechanical drives that spin disk platters, but they are more expensive. Although the cost of solid state disks is dropping all the time, the cost/performance ratio of magnetic disks continues to improve as well. See SSD and solid state battery.
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| Solid State Logic in the Mid-1960s |
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| The three transistors in this solid state module (top removed) used in IBM's System/360 computers were advanced technology in the mid-1960s. (Image courtesy of IBM.) |
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| Ahead of Its Time |
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| Predicting the demise of the hard disk, this message was cut out of a mouse pad from the 1990s that was a bit ahead of its time. However, solid state drives (SSDs) are increasingly replacing spinning platters. See SSD. |
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| All Solid State |
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| A USB drive comprises a controller chip, quartz crystal (large silver component), some discrete resistors and capacitors (R's and C's) and a flash memory chip (bottom). The clear plastic is an LED. See USB drive. |
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| A High-Tech Jukebox in the 1960s |
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| As transistor-based computers, radios and electronics, such as this jukebox, were making inroads, terms such as "solid state" and "integrated circuit" were beginning to be heard more often. |
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