Morgan Sparks
Encyclopedia
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. Sparks directed Sandia National Laboratories
.
and became an undergraduate at Rice University
and then did his PhD work in physical chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
where John Bardeen
, Walter Brattain and William Shockley
were developing the first transistor. Sparks stayed at Bell Labs and worked there to develop the microwatt bipolar junction transistor
which helped make transistors practical enough for common use. Later, Sparks left Bell Labs to become the director of Sandia National Laboratories
.
Bipolar junction transistor
|- align = "center"| || PNP|- align = "center"| || NPNA bipolar transistor is a three-terminal electronic device constructed of doped semiconductor material and may be used in amplifying or switching applications. Bipolar transistors are so named because their operation involves both electrons...
in 1951, which was a critical step in making transistors usable for every-day electronics. Sparks directed Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories
The Sandia National Laboratories, managed and operated by the Sandia Corporation , are two major United States Department of Energy research and development national laboratories....
.
Early life and education
Sparks was born in Pagosa Springs, ColoradoPagosa Springs, Colorado
Pagosa Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat of, and the only incorporated municipality in, Archuleta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,591 at the 2000 census...
and became an undergraduate at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
and then did his PhD work in physical chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
Career
Sparks went on to work at Bell LabsBell 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...
where John 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...
, Walter Brattain and William Shockley
William 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...
were developing the first transistor. Sparks stayed at Bell Labs and worked there to develop the microwatt bipolar junction transistor
Bipolar junction transistor
|- align = "center"| || PNP|- align = "center"| || NPNA bipolar transistor is a three-terminal electronic device constructed of doped semiconductor material and may be used in amplifying or switching applications. Bipolar transistors are so named because their operation involves both electrons...
which helped make transistors practical enough for common use. Later, Sparks left Bell Labs to become the director of Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories
The Sandia National Laboratories, managed and operated by the Sandia Corporation , are two major United States Department of Energy research and development national laboratories....
.
External links
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...
.