The Transistor

'Release: A.M. Papers of Thursday, July 1, 1948. The Transistor, Bell Telephone Laboratories' latest contribution to electronics and electrical communication. Working on an entirely new physical principle discovered by the Laboratories in the course of fundamental research into the electrical properties of solids, the device will serve as an amplifier or an oscillator -- perform nearly all the functions of an ordinary vacuum tube, but involves no vacuum, no glass envelope, no grid, no plate, no cathode and therefore no warm-up delay. Contained in the simple metal cylinder are two extremely fine wires, whose points rest on a small dot of semi-conductive material soldered to a metal base. The Transistor has been shown to produce amplification as high as 100 to 1 (20 decibels). Some test models have been operated as amplifiers at frequencies up to ten million cycles per second.', Credit Line: Photograph by Nick Lazarnick, Alcatel-Lucent/Bell Labs, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Brattain Collection
Abstract/Description: 'Release: A.M. Papers of Thursday, July 1, 1948. The Transistor, Bell Telephone Laboratories' latest contribution to electronics and electrical communication. Working on an entirely new physical principle discovered by the Laboratories in the course of fundamental research into the electrical properties of solids, the device will serve as an amplifier or an oscillator -- perform nearly all the functions of an ordinary vacuum tube, but involves no vacuum, no glass envelope, no grid, no plate, no cathode and therefore no warm-up delay. Contained in the simple metal cylinder are two extremely fine wires, whose points rest on a small dot of semi-conductive material soldered to a metal base. The Transistor has been shown to produce amplification as high as 100 to 1 (20 decibels). Some test models have been operated as amplifiers at frequencies up to ten million cycles per second.'
Subject(s): Semiconductors
Transistors
Slide-rule
Equipment and supplies
Brattain, Walter H. (Walter Houser), 1902-1987
Shockley, William, 1910-1989
Bardeen, John
Date Created: 1948
Credit Line: Photograph by Nick Lazarnick, Alcatel-Lucent/Bell Labs, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Brattain Collection
Catalog ID: Brattain Walter F4
Title: The Transistor.
Type of Resource: still image
Date Created: 1948
Extent: 1 photographic print (black and white; 9.5 x 7 inches)
Abstract/Description: 'Release: A.M. Papers of Thursday, July 1, 1948. The Transistor, Bell Telephone Laboratories' latest contribution to electronics and electrical communication. Working on an entirely new physical principle discovered by the Laboratories in the course of fundamental research into the electrical properties of solids, the device will serve as an amplifier or an oscillator -- perform nearly all the functions of an ordinary vacuum tube, but involves no vacuum, no glass envelope, no grid, no plate, no cathode and therefore no warm-up delay. Contained in the simple metal cylinder are two extremely fine wires, whose points rest on a small dot of semi-conductive material soldered to a metal base. The Transistor has been shown to produce amplification as high as 100 to 1 (20 decibels). Some test models have been operated as amplifiers at frequencies up to ten million cycles per second.'
Identifier(s): Brattain Walter F4 (Catalog ID)
Note(s):

Credit Line: Photograph by Nick Lazarnick, Alcatel-Lucent/Bell Labs, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Brattain Collection
Subject(s): Semiconductors
Transistors
Slide-rule
Equipment and supplies
Brattain, Walter H. (Walter Houser), 1902-1987
Shockley, William, 1910-1989
Bardeen, John
Held by: Niels Bohr Library & Archives
Copyright Holder: Nokia Bell Labs (formerly Alcatel-Lucent/Bell Labs)
Restrictions on Access: NBLA may be able to provide copyright contact information. Please contact us.
Related Title: Brattain Collection.
In Collections: