Ferrite-Diode Cell

(core-diode cell), a pulse component in devices used in automatics and computer technology, constructed in the form of one or several ring-shaped, square-loop ferrite cores combined with a semiconductor diode. The core memorizes and stores binary data, and the diode serves mainly as a separating component. The writing and reading of data are accomplished by current pulses fed to the windings of the write circuit and read circuit, respectively. Several ferrite-diode cells, connected in various configurations, can be assembled into logic elements, registers, and threshold devices. Ferrite-diode cells were used in the 1950’s in computers and some automatic devices. During the 1960’s they were superseded by ferrite-transistor cells, which offered improved performance.