1.1 Timetable and Key Achievements
7
Fig. 1.8 Characteristics of
a silicon rectifier, 1941.
Adapted from [92]
1941
R.S. Ohl—Silicon rectifier with point contact [92, 93] (Fig. 1.8), building on work from G.W. Pickard
(1906) and using metallurgically refined and intentionally doped silicon (J. Scaff and H. Theurer) [90].
1942
K. Clusius, E. Holz and H. Welker—rectification in germanium [94].
1945
H. Welker—patents for JFET and MESFET [95].
1947
W. Shockley, J. Bardeen and W. Brattain fabricate the first transistor in the AT&T Bell Laboratories,
Holmdel, NJ in an effort to improve hearing aids [96].
11 Strictly speaking the structure was a pointcontact transistor. A 50-µm wide slit was cut with a razor blade into gold foil over a plastic (insulating)
triangle and pressed with a spring on n-type germanium (Fig. 1.9a) [97]. The surface region of the
germanium is p-type due to surface states and represents an inversion layer. The two gold contacts
form emitter and collector, the large-area back contact of the germanium the base contact [98]. For the
first time, amplification was observed [99]. Later models use two close point contacts made from wires
with their tips cut into wedge shape (Fig. 1.9b) [98].
12 More details about the history and development
of the semiconductor transistor can be found in [100], written on the occasion of the 50th anniversary
of its invention.
1948
W. Shockley—invention of the bipolar (junction) transistor [101].
1952
H. Welker—fabrication of III–V compound semiconductors
13 [104–107].
11 Subsequently, AT&T, under pressure from the US Justice Department’s antitrust division, licensed the transistor for
$25,000. This action initiated the rise of companies like Texas Instruments, Sony and Fairchild.
12 The setup of Fig. 1.9b represents a common base circuit. In a modern bipolar transistor, current amplification in this
case is close to unity (Sect. 24.2.2). In the 1948 germanium transistor, the reversely biased collector contact is influenced
by the emitter current such that current amplification ∂ I C /∂ I E for constant U C was up to 2–3. Due to the collector voltage
being much larger than the emitter voltage, a power gain of ∼ 125 was reported [98].
13 An early concept for III–V semiconductors was developed in [102, 103].
7
Fig. 1.8 Characteristics of
a silicon rectifier, 1941.
Adapted from [92]
1941
R.S. Ohl—Silicon rectifier with point contact [92, 93] (Fig. 1.8), building on work from G.W. Pickard
(1906) and using metallurgically refined and intentionally doped silicon (J. Scaff and H. Theurer) [90].
1942
K. Clusius, E. Holz and H. Welker—rectification in germanium [94].
1945
H. Welker—patents for JFET and MESFET [95].
1947
W. Shockley, J. Bardeen and W. Brattain fabricate the first transistor in the AT&T Bell Laboratories,
Holmdel, NJ in an effort to improve hearing aids [96].
11 Strictly speaking the structure was a pointcontact transistor. A 50-µm wide slit was cut with a razor blade into gold foil over a plastic (insulating)
triangle and pressed with a spring on n-type germanium (Fig. 1.9a) [97]. The surface region of the
germanium is p-type due to surface states and represents an inversion layer. The two gold contacts
form emitter and collector, the large-area back contact of the germanium the base contact [98]. For the
first time, amplification was observed [99]. Later models use two close point contacts made from wires
with their tips cut into wedge shape (Fig. 1.9b) [98].
12 More details about the history and development
of the semiconductor transistor can be found in [100], written on the occasion of the 50th anniversary
of its invention.
1948
W. Shockley—invention of the bipolar (junction) transistor [101].
1952
H. Welker—fabrication of III–V compound semiconductors
13 [104–107].
11 Subsequently, AT&T, under pressure from the US Justice Department’s antitrust division, licensed the transistor for
$25,000. This action initiated the rise of companies like Texas Instruments, Sony and Fairchild.
12 The setup of Fig. 1.9b represents a common base circuit. In a modern bipolar transistor, current amplification in this
case is close to unity (Sect. 24.2.2). In the 1948 germanium transistor, the reversely biased collector contact is influenced
by the emitter current such that current amplification ∂ I C /∂ I E for constant U C was up to 2–3. Due to the collector voltage
being much larger than the emitter voltage, a power gain of ∼ 125 was reported [98].
13 An early concept for III–V semiconductors was developed in [102, 103].