History of the Transistor

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A device composed of semiconductor material that amplifies a signal or opens or closes a circuit, transistors have become the major componet in all digital circuits, including computer microprocessors which now contain millions of microscopic size transistors. Prior to transistors, digital circuits used vacuum tubes which had many disadvantages, they were larger, used more energy, and created more heat.

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The History of The Transistor
The tiny and powerful transistor changed the future of electronics. John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & William Shockley all co-invented the transistor in 1947 at Bell Labs.

Further Research

• Bardeen, Brattain & Shockley Transistor co-inventors - National Inventors Hall of Fame.
• Take A Look At The Original Patent Ed Suominen, Patent Agent, provides us with a view of U.S. Patent 2,524,035 to John Bardeen et al."Three-Electrode Circuit Element Utilizing Semiconductive Materials".
• How Transistors Work From one of Intel's educational program.
• The Transistor Collector A lover of transistors maintains this web site - take a look at his Picture Gallery.
• William Shockley 1910 - 1989
• William Shockley - Solid-State Physicist
• Transistor is Invented - 1947

©Mary Bellis