Transistor
In 1925, physicist Julius Edgar Lilienfeld filed a patent in Canada for a field-effect transistor. He intended this device as a solid-state replacement for the fragile thermionic triode vacuum tube that had enabled amplified radio technology since 1907. Lilienfeld filed identical patents in the United States during 1926 and 1928. Despite these early filings, he published no research articles about his devices. His patents also cited no specific examples of a working prototype. The production of high-quality semiconductor materials remained decades away from reality. Consequently, Lilienfeld's solid-state amplifier ideas found no practical use in the 1920s or 1930s. Inventor Oskar Heil patented a similar device in Europe in 1934. This European patent was originally filed in Germany on the 2nd of March 1934, and published later that year.
From November 17th to the 23rd of December 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain conducted experiments at AT&T Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey. They applied two gold point contacts to a crystal of germanium and observed signal output with power greater than input. William Shockley saw the potential in this discovery and expanded knowledge of semiconductors over the following months. The term transistor was coined by John R. Pierce as a contraction of transresistance. Shockley proposed that Bell Labs' first patent should be based on field-effect technology, but lawyers advised against it due to existing obscurity. Instead, they invented the first point-contact transistor in 1947. Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain jointly received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their researches on semiconductors. In 1948, Herbert Mataré and Heinrich Welker independently invented the point-contact transistor while working at Compagnie des Freins et Signaux Westinghouse in Paris. By June 1948, they produced consistent results using samples of germanium similar to what Bardeen and Brattain had accomplished earlier.
The first bipolar junction transistors were invented by William Shockley at Bell Labs, who applied for patent number 2,569,347 on the 26th of June 1948. On the 12th of April 1950, chemists Gordon Teal and Morgan Sparks successfully produced a working bipolar NPN junction amplifying germanium transistor. Bell announced this new sandwich transistor in a press release on the 4th of July 1951. The first high-frequency transistor was the surface-barrier germanium transistor developed by Philco in 1953. It operated at frequencies up to several gigahertz. These devices were made by etching depressions into an n-type germanium base from both sides with jets of indium(III) sulfate until only a few ten-thousandths of an inch remained. Indium electroplated into these depressions formed the collector and emitter. In 1954, Morris Tanenbaum developed the first working silicon transistor at Bell Labs. Texas Instruments announced the first production commercial silicon transistor in May 1954. This work was done by Gordon Teal, an expert in growing crystals of high purity.
AT&T first used transistors in telecommunications equipment within the No. 4A Toll Crossbar Switching System in 1953. This system selected trunk circuits from routing information encoded on translator cards. Its predecessor, the Western Electric No. 3A phototransistor, read mechanical encoding from punched metal cards. The first prototype pocket transistor radio appeared at the Internationale Funkausstellung Düsseldorf from August 29th to the 6th of September 1953. INTERMETALL, founded by Herbert Mataré in 1952, displayed this device. The first production-model pocket transistor radio was the Regency TR-1, released in October 1954. It contained four transistors and one germanium diode. The industrial design was outsourced to Painter, Teague and Petertil in Chicago. Initially available in six colors including black, ivory, mandarin red, cloud grey, mahogany, and olive green, other shades followed shortly after. In April 1955, Chrysler announced its all-transistor car radio model 914HR. This became available as an option starting fall 1955 for new Chrysler and Imperial cars reaching dealerships on the 21st of October 1955.
In 1955, Carl Frosch and Lincoln Derick accidentally grew a layer of silicon dioxide over a silicon wafer while observing surface passivation effects. By 1957, they manufactured silicon dioxide field-effect transistors using masking and predeposition techniques. These were the first planar transistrons with drain and source adjacent at the same surface. J.R. Ligenza and W.G. Spitzer studied thermally grown oxides and published results in 1960. Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng proposed a silicon MOS transistor in 1959. Their Bell Labs team successfully demonstrated a working MOS device in 1960. The team included E.E. LaBate and E.I. Povilonis who fabricated the device. M.O. Thurston, L.A. D'Asaro, and J.R. Ligenza developed diffusion processes. H.K. Gummel and R. Lindner characterized the device. With high scalability and much lower power consumption, the MOSFET enabled integration of more than 10,000 transistors in a single integrated circuit. Chih-Tang Sah and Frank Wanlass invented CMOS complementary MOS technology at Fairchild Semiconductor in 1963.
The Sony TR-63 released in 1957 was the first mass-produced transistor radio leading to widespread adoption. Seven million units sold worldwide by the mid-1960s. Sony's success led to transistors replacing vacuum tubes as dominant electronic technology in the late 1950s. The US Patent and Trademark Office calls the MOSFET a groundbreaking invention that transformed life and culture around the world. More than 13 sextillion MOSFETs were manufactured by 2018. These devices account for 99.9% of all transistors globally. A logic gate consists of up to about 20 transistrons while an advanced microprocessor may contain as many as 92 billion transistors on a die. Dual-die chips can hold 184 billion transistors. Exceptional chips reached 2.6 trillion transistors as of 2020. Transistors are organized into logic gates within microprocessors to perform computation. Their low cost, flexibility, and reliability have made them ubiquitous across modern electronics.
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Common questions
Who invented the first field-effect transistor and when was it patented?
Physicist Julius Edgar Lilienfeld filed a patent in Canada for a field-effect transistor on the 1st of March 1925. He subsequently filed identical patents in the United States during 1926 and 1928.
When did John Bardeen and Walter Brattain create the first point-contact transistor at Bell Labs?
John Bardeen and Walter Brattain conducted experiments from November 17th to the 23rd of December 1947 that led to the invention of the first point-contact transistor. William Shockley later joined them to expand knowledge of semiconductors before they received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.
What date was the first working bipolar junction amplifying germanium transistor produced by Gordon Teal and Morgan Sparks?
Chemists Gordon Teal and Morgan Sparks successfully produced a working bipolar NPN junction amplifying germanium transistor on the 12th of April 1950. Bell announced this new sandwich transistor in a press release on the 4th of July 1951.
Which company released the first production-model pocket transistor radio and when was it available?
The Regency TR-1 became the first production-model pocket transistor radio released in October 1954. It contained four transistors and one germanium diode with industrial design outsourced to Painter, Teague and Petertil in Chicago.
Who developed the first silicon MOS transistor and what year did their team demonstrate a working device?
Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng proposed a silicon MOS transistor in 1959. Their Bell Labs team successfully demonstrated a working MOS device in 1960 with fabrication by E.E. LaBate and E.I. Povilonis.