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The History of the Transistor
and
One of It’s Inventors, William Schockley
William Shockley
The First Silicon Transistor
First Transistor Point Contact Transistor
Modern Transistors
The “Team” that has been
accredited with inventing
the Transistor
William Shockley, John Bardeen and
Walter Brattain where awarded the
1956 Nobel Prize in Physics
History of the Transistor
Julius Edgar Lilienfeld filed the first patent in Canada in 1925.
Oskar Heil patented a similar device in 1934.
Herbert Matare experimented with Duodiodes in 1942
while working on a detector for a Doppler RADAR system.
John Bardeen and Walter Brattain produced the first point
contact transistor in 1947.
William Shockley produced the first layered transistor a few
months later.
The first silicon transistor was produced by Texas Instruments in 1954
What is a Transistor?
The name is derived from the terms
“Transfer” and “Resistor” thus “Transistor”.
It is made from a semiconductor
material, such as germanium or silicon.
A semiconductor is normally an
insulator but is now doped with a
chemical to give it the properties
necessary to operate like a
transistor.
The original transistors where made
using germanium but most of them
today use silicon.
Simple circuit for a
Transistor.
How a Transistor is made
•
Three Transistors on a single chip
How a Transistor works
William Shockley
William Bradford Shockley was born on February 13, 1910. He died
on August 12, 1989 of prostate cancer.
He was an American physicist and inventor. He received a Bachelor of Science
Degree from Cal Tech in 1932 and a PhD from MIT in 1936. In 1939 he designed
one of the first nuclear reactors.
After serving in various capacities during World War II,
Shockley began working for Bell Laboratories in 1945. He
became head of team tasked with finding a solid-state
alternative to the vacuum tube. In 1947 Shockley, Bardeen
and Brattain developed the first working Transistor.
Shockley went on to improve on the original design and
prove the principles by which it worked. His book
“Electrons and Holes in Semiconductor” became a reference
for future Transistor development.
In 1955, with funding form Arnold Beckman, he founded Shockley Semiconductor
In Palo Alto, California. Although this company was not successful, several people
That worked with Shockley ended up starting several well known companies
Including Fairchild Semiconductor, Intel, National Semiconductor and Advanced
Micro Devices. Shockley is credited for giving birth to “Silicon Valley”.
William Shockley’s Other Interests
While work at Bell Labs, Schockley became involved in
Mountaineering. One of the area’s he climbed is called
the Shawangunks or simply the “Gunk’s”. Shockley’s
Ceiling (5.8) was named after him as a climbing route
which he established in 1953. In 1963, a group called
the Vulgarian’s began climbing Shockley’s Ceiling naked.
Charter Vulgarian Dick
Williams makes the first
nude ascent of Shockley's
Ceiling, in 1964.
His buddies took off with
his clothes so his descent
was also a first
Bill Shockley and Charles
Kittel climbing in the
Watchung Reservation in
New Jersey.
Some modern
pictures of people
climbing
Shockley’s Ceiling.
After losing his business, Shockley began teaching a Stanford University.
He became involved in eugenics. Eugenics is the study of, or
belief in, the possibility of improving the qualities of the human
species by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons
having genetic defects.
Shockley argued that the higher rate of reproduction among
the less intelligent would cause a drop in the average
intelligence and ultimately lead to a decline in civilization.
Shockley proposed that individuals with IQ’s below 100 be
paid to undergo voluntary sterilization.
By the time of his death, Shockley was almost completely estranged
from most of his friends and family, except his wife. His wife didn’t
even have a funeral because she didn’t think anyone would attend.
All materials were obtained from the following locations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shockley
http://www.answers.com/topic/transistor
http://www.nndb.com/people/106/000026028/
http://www.biographicon.com/view/nsdwe
http://www.paloaltohistory.com/images/shockleyfirstjunct.jpg
http://shockley.nobelpr.com/1.htm
http://www.theuberfall.com/shockleyprofile.htm
http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/FAQ_Vulgarians.htm