Transistor Museum Early Germanium Power Transistor History by Joe Knight BTL Western Electric Page 28

A SURVEY OF EARLY POWER TRANSISTORS

by Joe Knight

THE POWER TRANSISTOR

BELL TELEPHONE LABS AND WESTERN ELECTRIC

Last but not least, is the WE 2N1841, a NPN Diffused Silicon Power Transistor from 1963. This was rated at 12.5 watts but quite useful as a very high-speed switching device, housed in the TO-38 housing as shown below.

Thus we come to the end of a true powerhouse era wherein Bell Telephone Labs and Western Electric brought into the electronics world new technologies and devices unheard of only a few years earlier. They helped to usher in the decisive Diffusion process and the long-known potential of Silicon as a high-power element. Truly, for the short 10+ years of their leadership, no other semiconductor manufacturer can compare with the breath or scope of their Power Transistor product line.

This chapter on Bell Labs/W.E., while extensive, is in no way complete as it possibly could be as it reflects the authors’ current accumulation of power transistor samples, history and data. My sincerest thanks to all those early pioneers and fellow collectors who so willingly contributed to this latest (and last?) write-up.

END OF BELL TELEPHONE LABS/WESTERN ELECTRIC

POWER TRANSISTOR HISTORY

Joe Knight Early Power Transistor History – BTL/WESTERN ELECTRIC Page 28