75th Anniversary of the Transistor
The IEEE Electron Devices Society has decided to celebrate the year 2022-2023 as the 75th Anniversary of the Transistor. KTH and the Electron Devices Chapter of Sweden will participate with local activities.
The year 1905 is well known as the “Miracle Year” because Albert Einstein published four papers that changed the laws of physics and were significant contributions to the foundation of modern physics. Similarly, November 1947 – January 1948 were the three magical months that paved the way for modern-day electronics. This was done by three brilliant scientists who were members of the Mervin Kelly’s Solid State Physics Group and Semiconductor Sub-Group at Bell Labs, which were given the challenging task of creating a solid-state semiconductor switch that could replace the vacuum tube. The famous physicists - Walter Brattain and John Bardeen managed to make the first working transistor, now known as the point-contact transistor. The invention was made on December 16, 1947. A week after that, the device was officially demonstrated to Bell Labs executives as a “magnificent Christmas present." In January 1948, William Shockley demonstrated the junction transistor. All three received The Nobel Prize in Physics (1956) and as per Nobel Prize Committee - "In 1947 John Bardeen and Walter Brattain produced a semiconductor amplifier, which was further developed by William Shockley. The component was named a "transistor."