Gordon K. Teal
Encyclopedia
Gordon Kidd Teal 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. He is most remembered for developing the first silicon transistor while at Texas Instruments
.
. 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.
'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.
. Teal started at TI on 1 January 1953, bringing with him all his expertise in growing semiconductor crystals. Haggerty had hired him to establish a team of scientists and engineers to keep TI at the leading edge of the new and rapidly expanding semiconductor industry. Teal's first assignment was to organize what became TI's Central Research Laboratories (CRL). Because of Teal's background, this new department was modeled after Bell Labs.
, created the first integrated circuit
. Other break-through developments include many advancements in infrared
technology, and digital signal processing
initially developed for the oil exploration industry, then for space and defense applications.
During 1963 and 1964 Teal became the International Technical Director for TI, promoting TI's growth as an international company. He resided in England, France, and Italy and was most active in their scientific and industrial aspects.
Germanium
Germanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors tin and silicon. The isolated element is a semiconductor, with an appearance most similar to elemental silicon....
single crystals used in making greatly improved transistors. He, together with Morgan Sparks
Morgan Sparks
Morgan Sparks was an American scientist and engineer who helped develop the microwatt bipolar junction transistor in 1951, which was a critical step in making transistors usable for every-day electronics...
invented a modification of the process that produced the configuration necessary for the fabrication of bipolar junction transistors. He is most remembered for developing the first silicon transistor while at Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
.
Early years
Teal was born in South Dallas, Texas to Olin Allison Teal and Azelia Kidd. His father had come to Texas in 1897 from Georgia. Gordon was valedictorian at the Bryan Street High School in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. Gordon earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
and a doctorate in Physical Chemistry from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1931. While at Brown, he began work in the laboratory of Professor Charles Kraus
Charles A. Kraus
Charles August Kraus was an American chemist. He was professor of chemistry and director of the chemical laboratories at Clark University, where he directed the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I...
on the then useless element, germanium. He joined Bell Labs
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
in 1930.
The invention
When William ShockleyWilliam Shockley
William Bradford Shockley Jr. was an American physicist and inventor. Along with John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain, Shockley co-invented the transistor, for which all three were awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.Shockley's attempts to commercialize a new transistor design in the 1950s...
'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.
Texas Instruments
In 1952 Dallas-based Texas Instruments had purchased a license to produce germanium transistors from Western Electric, the manufacturing arm of AT&T and placed an ad in the New York Times for a director of research. Teal, becoming homesick for his native Dallas, responded and was hired by Patrick E. HaggertyPatrick E. Haggerty
Patrick Eugene Haggerty was an American engineer and businessman. He was a co-founder and former president and chairman of Texas Instruments, Incorporated. Haggerty is most responsible for turning a small Texas oil exploration company into the leader in semiconductors that Texas Instruments is today...
. Teal started at TI on 1 January 1953, bringing with him all his expertise in growing semiconductor crystals. Haggerty had hired him to establish a team of scientists and engineers to keep TI at the leading edge of the new and rapidly expanding semiconductor industry. Teal's first assignment was to organize what became TI's Central Research Laboratories (CRL). Because of Teal's background, this new department was modeled after Bell Labs.
First silicon transistor
In April 1954 Teal's TI CRL team created the first commercial silicon transistor and tested it on 14 April 1954. On 10 May 1954 at the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) National Conference on Airborne Electronics, in Dayton, Ohio, Teal revealed this achievement to the world when he announced, "Contrary to what my colleagues have told you about the bleak prospects for silicon transistors. I happen to have a few of them here in my pocket." Teal also presented a paper, "Some Recent Developments in Silicon and Germanium Materials and Devices," at this conference.Other major achievements
Teal was hired to create and staff TI's CRL and was particularly proud of the outstanding talent recruited and developed as well as their subsequent impact on TI. In 1957 CRL developed a chemical reduction process for ultra-pure silicon. In 1958 a CRL employee, Jack KilbyJack Kilby
Jack St. Clair Kilby was an American physicist who took part in the invention of the integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments in 1958. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 2000. He is credited with the invention of the integrated circuit or microchip...
, created the first integrated circuit
Integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
. Other break-through developments include many advancements in infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
technology, and digital signal processing
Digital signal processing
Digital signal processing is concerned with the representation of discrete time signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
initially developed for the oil exploration industry, then for space and defense applications.
During 1963 and 1964 Teal became the International Technical Director for TI, promoting TI's growth as an international company. He resided in England, France, and Italy and was most active in their scientific and industrial aspects.
First Director of the Institute for Materials Research
In 1965, Teal, taking a leave of absence from Texas Instruments, became the first Director of the National Bureau of Standards' Institute for Materials Research in Washington, D.C.Further reading
- 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.