In 1947, the research workers Bardeen,
Shockley
and Brattain from Bell Labs in the United States discovered the transistor. Philips
Research Laboratories in Eindhoven went along with research in
semiconductors and succeeded in 1949 to make their first point contact transistor.
1951 The management of the division thermionic tubes established
a separate group for development and production of semiconductors..
1952 The Bell Labs organised the Transistor Technology Symposium in
order to share the knowledge with others. They provided insights
and Bell
provided documentation, Mother Bell's Cookbook was for
Philips and many other companies the start in the semiconductor industry.
1953 The Philips Board of Management took the decision to build a large factory
for semiconductors in Nijmegen.
The new factory opened in 1954 and developed rapidly to
be the largest in Europe.
Sales were in the various countries under the locally
familiar trademarks like Mullard (UK),
Valvo (Germany), RTC (France), Amperex (USA).
First germanium
diode. Type OA50.
Ca. 1951.
In 1952 the production was already one million units.
1953/54. First commercial Philips transistors came on the market.
The point contact transistors OC50, OC51.
Point contact-transistor
1953/54. First commercial Philips transistors came on the market.
The germanium junction transistors in a plastic housing. OC10, OC11, OC12.
Ca.
1954.
The germanium junction transistors in a glas housing. OC72, OC71.
Ca. 1954. Development models of the first germanium powertransistors. Types OC15, 100OC.
Ca. 1956.
First commercial powertransistor in Europe.
The germanium high-power transistor type OC16.
Germanium
high-power transistor.
Type OC36. In the standard TO-3 case.
c. 1959
Transistor line up for the first
Philips all-transistor portable radio.
1xOC44, 2xOC45, 2xOC71, 2xOC72. 1957
All-transistor portable L3X71T
Germanium 'pushed out base' transistor.
Type OC170. Suitable for high frequenties above 100 MHz. c. 1958
Silicon transistor.
Type OC200. c. 1959
OM200, the first commercial Philips IC. 1965.
It is an audio amplifier for use in
hearing aids and consists of three transistors and two resistors.
Chip dimensions: 0.75x0.75 mm.
Package: 2.75x2.8 mm.
