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1958-1965: Government Funded High Power High
Frequency Transistor Contracts.
In 1965, PSI was
de-incorporated by it’s parent company, TRW. During the years 1958 to 1965,
the focus at PSI (later TRW Semiconductors) was primarily to advance the
transistor power-frequency curve.
Military contracts funded essentially all of this effort, with the
resulting devices going into various satellite applications and weapons
systems. Here are some examples:
1958-1961:
One watt – 70 MHZ, Three
Watt – 70 MHZ, Five Watt – 30 MHZ.
First use of Beryllium-Oxide (BeO) packages for high thermal
conductance. First use of a molded
epoxy plastic package.
1962-1965:
Five watt – 70 MHZ, Ten Watt – 500 MHZ, 50 –150 Watt
transistors. Production contract for Five Watt – 500 MHZ transistors. MinuteMan missile contract for Five Watt
– 70 HHZ transistors. During this
period, TRW high frequency high
power transistors were designed into a number of military and space
programs:
Missiles: Courier, MinuteMan, Poseiden,
Trident, Tomahawk, Phoenix, SRAM, Sparrow, Standard, Sidewinder, Stinger.
Space Systems: GPS Satellites, MILSTAR Satellite, Nasa
Space Shuttle.
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