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Gordon Kidd Teal (January 10, 1907 – January 7, 2003) invented a method of applying the Czochralski method to produce extremely pure germanium single crystals used in making greatly improved transistors. He, together with Morgan Sparks invented a modification of the process that produced the configuration necessary for the fabrication of bipolar junction transistors.
[edit] Early years
Teal was born in South Dallas, Texas. His father, Olin Allison Teal, had come to Texas in 1897 from Georgia. Gordon earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University and a doctorate in Physical Chemistry from Brown University in 1931. While at Brown, he began work in the laboratory of Professor Charles Kraus on the then useless element, germanium. He joined Bell Labs in 1930.
[edit] The invention
When William Shockley's group at Bell Labs invented the transistor in 1947 Teal realized that substantial improvements in the device would result if it was fabricated using a single crystal, rather than the polycrystalline material then being used. He started a "boot-leg" project with very few resources (or managerial support) to make a simple crystal pulling apparatus.
[edit] References
- Michael Riordan and Lillian Hoddeson; Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age. New York: Norton. 1997. ISBN 0-393-31851-6 pbk.
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