Transistor Museum Early Germanium Power Transistor History by Joe Knight BTL Western Electric Page 23

A SURVEY OF EARLY POWER TRANSISTORS

by Joe Knight

THE POWER TRANSISTOR

BELL TELEPHONE LABS AND WESTERN ELECTRIC

By early 1955, Carl Frosch and Lincoln Derick of Bell Labs were developing a new diffusion process which allowed for even thinner and tighter semiconductor transistor elements, the key to true uhf frequency devices. Both Germanium and Silicon diffusion processes were being pursed. Announcements about this new technology in the 'Bell Labs Record' magazine show an early diffused prototype device similar to the one shown below. Soon thereafter, Western Electric licensed this diffusion technology to the other transistor manufacturers. Some small-signal devices first appeared in late 1956, either with diffusion (Germanium) or double/triple diffusion technology (Silicon).

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Joe Knight Early Power Transistor History – BTL/WESTERN ELECTRIC Page 23