Invention of the Point Contact Transistor, 1954

Holes in the Transistor Effect Theory

A paragraph included in a 1951 edition of "Science" states the transistor effect and the critical discovery of "holes" made by Bardeen and Brattain with the following:

"The functioning of transistors can be explained using the theory of semiconductors developed about 1931. This theory predicts that electrons in a semiconductor behave normally like negatively charged electrons and also cooperate so as to mimic the behavior of positively charged electrons, or "holes.""

You can access the text of this brief article by clicking on the thumbnail at right.

Article / (1.19 MB); "Science," Vol. 114, p. 487 containing a one-paragraph blurb with headline, "Transistor Electronics, W. Shockley, Bell Telephone Laboratories;" 11/9/1951