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Department of Electrical and Computer EngineeringUC Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA

A Brief and Biased Theological History of the Realization of the Heterojunction

by

Jerry M. Woodall

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In the beginning . . . .

God created ShockleyGod created Shockley

In the beginning . . . .

God created ShockleyGod created Shockley

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And God said unto Bill,

““Verily I say unto thee: Vacuum tubes Verily I say unto thee: Vacuum tubes suck. Go ye therefore into the laboratory suck. Go ye therefore into the laboratory and create a solid state amplifier.” and create a solid state amplifier.”

And God said unto Bill,

““Verily I say unto thee: Vacuum tubes Verily I say unto thee: Vacuum tubes suck. Go ye therefore into the laboratory suck. Go ye therefore into the laboratory and create a solid state amplifier.” and create a solid state amplifier.”

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And Bill obeyed God’s command and spent many hours watching his subordinates swelter in the oppressive BTL environment to stick a few wires on a piece of germanium.

He then presented the creation to the Lord.

And Bill obeyed God’s command and spent many hours watching his subordinates swelter in the oppressive BTL environment to stick a few wires on a piece of germanium.

He then presented the creation to the Lord.

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And God said unto Bill,

““You gotta be kidding! How in my name You gotta be kidding! How in my name will Sony be able to get this thing into a will Sony be able to get this thing into a Walkman?” Walkman?”

And God said unto Bill,

““You gotta be kidding! How in my name You gotta be kidding! How in my name will Sony be able to get this thing into a will Sony be able to get this thing into a Walkman?” Walkman?”

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And so, a chastised Bill returned to the BTL dungeons, whereupon he invented the bipolar junction transistor. And for good measure the patent had claims concerning the ideaof a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT). . . .

And so, a chastised Bill returned to the BTL dungeons, whereupon he invented the bipolar junction transistor. And for good measure the patent had claims concerning the ideaof a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT). . . .

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Shockley, Pat. # 2,569,347 claims 11-13

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And God said unto Bill,

““Yea, the BJT is good and will help IBMYea, the BJT is good and will help IBMmake a bundle on its main frames. But make a bundle on its main frames. But tell me more about the HBT?”tell me more about the HBT?”

But Bill, seeing Noyce, Grove, and Moore getting filthy rich on BJTs, decided to filthy rich on BJTs, decided to start his own company which crashed and start his own company which crashed and burned. So, Bill retired to Stanford. burned. So, Bill retired to Stanford.

And God said unto Bill,

““Yea, the BJT is good and will help IBMYea, the BJT is good and will help IBMmake a bundle on its main frames. But make a bundle on its main frames. But tell me more about the HBT?”tell me more about the HBT?”

But Bill, seeing Noyce, Grove, and Moore getting filthy rich on BJTs, decided to filthy rich on BJTs, decided to start his own company which crashed and start his own company which crashed and burned. So, Bill retired to Stanford. burned. So, Bill retired to Stanford.

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God was pleased with the BJT which was fruitful and multiplied and directed the Nobel Committee to reward Bill and his gang with The Prize.

But first, to find out more about HBTs. . . .

God created HerbGod created Herb

and commanded him to show why God should be interested in HBTs, Whereupon Herb fulfilled God’s command. . . . .

God was pleased with the BJT which was fruitful and multiplied and directed the Nobel Committee to reward Bill and his gang with The Prize.

But first, to find out more about HBTs. . . .

God created HerbGod created Herb

and commanded him to show why God should be interested in HBTs, Whereupon Herb fulfilled God’s command. . . . .

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And God said,

“I get it. But how in my name are you going make this frickin’ thing? Si emitters on a Ge base will have defects at the interface. GaAs on Ge will dope each other and GaAsP on GaAs will have defects at the interface.

“But wait. There’s this out-of-the-box guy at IBM who makes red LEDs out of AlGaAs-GaAs HJs by some weird technique called liquid phase epitaxy. I’ll get him to make us an HBT.”

And God said,

“I get it. But how in my name are you going make this frickin’ thing? Si emitters on a Ge base will have defects at the interface. GaAs on Ge will dope each other and GaAsP on GaAs will have defects at the interface.

“But wait. There’s this out-of-the-box guy at IBM who makes red LEDs out of AlGaAs-GaAs HJs by some weird technique called liquid phase epitaxy. I’ll get him to make us an HBT.”

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ResearchWoodall Lab

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And God said: And God said: “HBTs are good!”“HBTs are good!”

Thanks, Herb for the HJ and helping me to have a Cinderella career too.

Jerry