Mike Carrell <[email protected]> wrote: Zone melting purification is standard in the semiconductor industry since > the 1940’s when it was developed at Bell Laboratories, enabling the > development of the transistor. . . . >
It was secretly developed after hours, against the explicit orders of management, with the equipment stashed in a closet during working hours so that no one would find out and put the kibosh on the project. Does that sound familiar? See: http://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/RothwellJtransistor.pdf William Shockley was in charge and he did not want people wasting their time on ultra-pure materials. If he had had his way, transistors would have remained a useless laboratory curiosity for many years. Shockley was brilliant but he had poor judgement when it came to engineering, technology, and business. He was kind of a paranoid nut too. He started a company, "Shockley Transistor Company" and ran it into the ground. But it was a great accomplishment despite everything, because it was training ground for the people who started Fairchild and the subsequent "Fairchildren." - Jed
