Julius Edgar Lilienfeld
Encyclopedia
Julius Edgar Lilienfeld (April 18, 1882 – August 28, 1963) was an Austro-Hungarian physicist. He was born in Lemberg in Austria-Hungary
(now called Lviv
in Ukraine
), moved to the United States in the early 1920s, and became American citizen in 1934. Lilienfeld is credited with the first patents on the field effect transistor (1920s) and electrolytic capacitor
(1931).
(renamed in 1949), in Berlin
, where he received his Ph.D. on February 18, 1905. In 1905 he started to work at the physics institute at the University of Leipzig
.
and Nordheim
in 1928.
Lilienfeld moved to the United States in the early 1920s, originally in order to defend patents he possessed, and then made a scientific/industrial career there.
Among other things, he invented an "FET
-like" transistor and the electrolytic capacitor
in the 1920s. He filed several patents describing the construction and operation of transistors as well as many features of modern transistors. (US patent #1,745,175 for an FET-like transistor was granted January 28, 1930.) When Brattain
, Bardeen
, and Robert Gibney tried to get patents on their earliest devices, most of their claims were rejected due to the Lilienfeld patents.
The optical radiation emitted when electrons are hitting a metal surface is named "Lilienfeld radiation" after he first discovered it close to X-ray tube
anode
s. Its origin is attributed to the excitation of plasmons in the metal surface.
The American Physical Society has named one of its major prizes after Lilienfeld.
, while Lilienfeld was director of the Ergon Research Laboratories in Malden, Massachusetts
. In 1935, he and his wife built a house on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands in hope of escaping an allergy associated with wheat fields, from which Lilienfeld had suffered for most of his life. Lilienfeld frequently traveled between St. Thomas and various mainland locations and continued to test new ideas and patent the resulting products.
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
(now called Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
), moved to the United States in the early 1920s, and became American citizen in 1934. Lilienfeld is credited with the first patents on the field effect transistor (1920s) and electrolytic capacitor
Electrolytic capacitor
An electrolytic capacitor is a type of capacitor that uses an electrolyte, an ionic conducting liquid, as one of its plates, to achieve a larger capacitance per unit volume than other types. They are often referred to in electronics usage simply as "electrolytics"...
(1931).
Education
Between 1900 and 1904, Lilienfeld studied at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-UniversitätHumboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
(renamed in 1949), in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he received his Ph.D. on February 18, 1905. In 1905 he started to work at the physics institute at the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
.
Career
Lilienfeld's early career was at the University of Leipzig, where he conducted important early work on electrical discharges in "vacuum", between metal electrodes, from about 1910 onwards. His early passion was to clarify how the phenomena changed as vacuum preparation techniques improved. More than any other scientist, he was responsible for the identification of (presently named) field electron emission as a separate physical effect. (He called it "auto-electronic emission", and was interested in it as a possible electron source for miniaturised X-ray tubes, in medical applications.) Lilienfeld was responsible for the first reliable account in English of the experimental phenomenology of field electron emission, in 1922. The effect itself was explained by FowlerRalph H. Fowler
Sir Ralph Howard Fowler OBE FRS was a British physicist and astronomer.-Education:Fowler was initially educated at home but then attended Evans' preparatory school at Horris Hill and Winchester College...
and Nordheim
Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim
Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim was a German-born Jewish theoretical physicist...
in 1928.
Lilienfeld moved to the United States in the early 1920s, originally in order to defend patents he possessed, and then made a scientific/industrial career there.
Among other things, he invented an "FET
Fet
Fet is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fetsund.Fet was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
-like" transistor and the electrolytic capacitor
Electrolytic capacitor
An electrolytic capacitor is a type of capacitor that uses an electrolyte, an ionic conducting liquid, as one of its plates, to achieve a larger capacitance per unit volume than other types. They are often referred to in electronics usage simply as "electrolytics"...
in the 1920s. He filed several patents describing the construction and operation of transistors as well as many features of modern transistors. (US patent #1,745,175 for an FET-like transistor was granted January 28, 1930.) When Brattain
Walter Houser Brattain
Walter Houser Brattain was an American physicist at Bell Labs who, along with John Bardeen and William Shockley, invented the transistor. They shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics for their invention. He devoted much of his life to research on surface states.- Early life and education :He was...
, Bardeen
John Bardeen
John Bardeen was an American physicist and electrical engineer, the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor; and again in 1972 with Leon Neil Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer for a...
, and Robert Gibney tried to get patents on their earliest devices, most of their claims were rejected due to the Lilienfeld patents.
The optical radiation emitted when electrons are hitting a metal surface is named "Lilienfeld radiation" after he first discovered it close to X-ray tube
X-ray tube
An X-ray tube is a vacuum tube that produces X-rays. They are used in X-ray machines. X-rays are part of the electromagnetic spectrum, an ionizing radiation with wavelengths shorter than ultraviolet light...
anode
Anode
An anode is an electrode through which electric current flows into a polarized electrical device. Mnemonic: ACID ....
s. Its origin is attributed to the excitation of plasmons in the metal surface.
The American Physical Society has named one of its major prizes after Lilienfeld.
Personal life
Lilienfeld emigrated to the United States in 1927 and became a US citizen in 1934. He married an American, Beatrice Ginsburg, in New York City on May 2, 1926. They lived in Winchester, MassachusettsWinchester, Massachusetts
Winchester is a town located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, eight miles north of Boston. With its agricultural roots having mostly disappeared, it is now an affluent suburb...
, while Lilienfeld was director of the Ergon Research Laboratories in Malden, Massachusetts
Malden, Massachusetts
Malden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...
. In 1935, he and his wife built a house on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands in hope of escaping an allergy associated with wheat fields, from which Lilienfeld had suffered for most of his life. Lilienfeld frequently traveled between St. Thomas and various mainland locations and continued to test new ideas and patent the resulting products.
See also
- History of the transistorHistory of the transistor-Invention of the transistor:The first patent for the field-effect transistor principle was filed in Canada by Austrian-Hungarian physicist Julius Edgar Lilienfeld on October 22, 1925, but Lilienfeld published no research articles about his devices, and they were ignored by industry. In 1934 German...
- Oskar HeilOskar HeilOskar Heil was a German electrical engineer and inventor. He studied physics, chemistry, mathematics, and music at the Georg-August University of Göttingen and was awarded his PhD in 1933, for his work on molecular spectroscopy.-Personal life:At the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Oskar Heil...
- Field-effect transistorField-effect transistorThe field-effect transistor is a transistor that relies on an electric field to control the shape and hence the conductivity of a channel of one type of charge carrier in a semiconductor material. FETs are sometimes called unipolar transistors to contrast their single-carrier-type operation with...
- John B. JohnsonJohn B. JohnsonJohn Bertrand "Bert" Johnson was a Swedish-born American electrical engineer and physicist...