All people
Transistor era (1947-1959)
John Bardeen and Walter Brattain
1908-1991; 1902-1987
Invented the point-contact transistor at Bell Labs in December 1947.
Contributions
- 01First solid-state device to amplify electrical signals.
- 02Shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics with Shockley.
- 03Proved vacuum tubes could be replaced by semiconductors.
Why it matters for solid state amplification
The point-contact transistor was the proof that solid-state amplification worked. Once it worked, everything else became inevitable.