Schmittn.
/ʃmɪt/, U.S. /ʃmɪt/ Electronics.
I. Compounds.
1. attributive and in the genitive. Designating a circuit in which the output voltage is high whenever the input is above one threshold, low when below another, and does not change from its previous value when varying between the two, developed by Otto Herbert Schmitt; as Schmitt circuit, Schmitt trigger, etc. Cf. trigger circuit n. at trigger n.1 Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > electronic circuit > [noun] > trigger circuit
trigger circuit1938
Schmitt1943
trigger1945
1943 O. S. Puckle Time Bases iv. 57 (heading) Schmitt's trigger circuit.
1946 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers 93 iiia. 306/1 Positive feedback can be used to reduce the effective grid base, or even to make it negative... [Note] This is the ‘Schmitt circuit’.
1953 L. W. Von Tersch & A. W. Swago Recurrent Electr. Transients viii. 272 If both plate-to-grid coupling and cathode coupling are utilized another trigger circuit is obtained. This circuit is called the Schmitt trigger circuit.
1985 Neurophysiol. 17 203 Action potentials of the neuron were led from the amplifier to a Schmitt's trigger.
2000 P. Scherz Pract. Electronics for Inventors ix. 270 Schmitt triggers are used to transform slowly changing input waveforms into sharply defined, jitter-free output waveforms.
II. Simple uses.
2. A Schmitt trigger (see sense 1).
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1959 IRE Trans. Electronic Computers 8 33/1 If the Schmitt is going to reverse states it must do so at the beginning of the input square wave.
1967 Electronic Engin. 39 752/1 A theory was required to account for the existence of a minimum ionization current below which the Schmitt fails to trigger, and a maximum above which the Schmitt fails to reset.
1992 IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 39 2264/2 The peak current (corresponding to the firing of the Schmitt) is 200 μA.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1943