The First Semiconductor
Published on 10 Mar 2006 at 12:21 pm |
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Filed under Networking Technology, Pure Geek, Information Technology.
Your correspondent was enjoying a fine barley-based beverage recently when he was accosted by a young lady who, happily, was not involved in the electronics industry.
"I’ve been reading about Bob Noyce" she said, "and how the IC got invented. It’s fascinating! I was never too sure what the difference was among ‘IC’ and ’semiconductor’ and ‘chip’ and ‘transistor’ but I am beginning to understand part of it."
Good, your correspondent thought, no tough questions here. Perhaps another sip to relax…
"But what I don’t understand is, what was the first semiconductor? And who invented it? And why?"
Indeed, perhaps there would be some hard questions after all. A quick refill seemed in order.
"Galena was probably the first. Galena - a form of lead sulphide - is a common mineral. Oddly enough it was discovered before radio was invented. A chap named Braun discovered the effect in galena, and several other minerals, in 1874."
The young lady seemed intrigued. "Why didn’t the transistor get invented sooner, then?"
"My dear, there wasn’t radio yet" your correspondent said, waggling a finger for a refill. "Little point, really, in inventing a radio receiver when there isn’t a transmitter, and for that matter you don’t know what radio is, yet. But a number of scientists and tinkerers investigated it, and electromagnetic waves in general. Interestingly, what was perhaps the first demonstration of radio took place in Calcutta in 1895, some six years before Marconi. A chap named J. C. Bose demonstrated radio transmission, through walls and people even, and even built the first radio-controlled apparatus. But as is so often the case, the full potential wasn’t realized - the distance covered was only a hundred feet or so; what use could there be for that?"
The young lady’s eyes began to glaze. Best to wrap this up quickly, then. "The vacuum tube detector was invented and followed quickly by the vacuum tube amplifier. That ability to amplify put vacuum - or hollow-state, as we like to call it - ahead for a generation. Freshen that drink for you, then?"
She purred. "Dunkel hefeweizen, please."
Copyright 2006 Oliver Heaviside
-- Oliver
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