Julius Edgar Lilienfeld
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| Julius Edgar Lilienfeld | |
| Born | April 18, 1881 Lemberg, then Austria-Hungary  ,today Lviv, Ukraine |
|---|---|
| Died | August 28, 1963 Charlotte Amalie, USA |
| Residence | Austria-Hungary, Germany, USA |
| Alma mater | Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität |
| Known for | Inventor of the transistor and the electrolytic capacitor |
| Religious stance | Jewish |
Julius Edgar Lilienfeld (April 18, 1881 – August 28, 1963) was an Austrian-Hungarian physicist. He was born in Lemberg in Austria-Hungary (now called Lviv in Ukraine).
From 1900 to 1904 he studied at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin. In 1905 he started to work at the physics institute at the University of Leipzig. Lilienfeld attained the habilitation in 1910.
Among other things, he invented the field-effect transistor (in 1925) 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. When Brattain, Bardeen and Shockley tried to get a patent on their device, 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 anodes. Its origin is attributed to the excitation of plasmons in the metal surface.[1][2][3]
Lilienfeld emigrated to the USA in 1927 and became a U.S. citizen in 1934.
Some of his patents:
- US patent 1745175 "Method and apparatus for controlling electric current" first filed in Canada on 22.10.1925, describing a device similar to a MESFET
- US patent 1900018 "Device for controlling electric current" filed on 28.03.1928, a thin film MOSFET
- US patent 1877140 "Amplifier for electric currents" filed on 08.12.1928, solid state device where the current flow is controlled by a porous metal layer, a solid state version of the vacuum tube
- US patent 2013564 "Electrolytic condenser" filed on 29.08.1931, Electrolytic capacitor
[edit] Education
Ph.D. Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (renamed in 1949), Berlin, on 18 February 1905
[edit] References
- ^ J.E. Lilienfeld: Die sichtbare Strahlung des Brennecks von Röntgenröhren. Physikalische Zeitschrift, 20(12) 280, 1919
- ^ Boersch, Hans; Radeloff, C.; Sauerbrey, G. (August 1961). "Über die an Metallen durch Elektronen ausgelöste sichtbare und ultraviolette Strahlung." (in German). Zeitschrift für Physik A Hadrons and Nuclei 165 (4): 464–484. doi:.
- ^ Boersch, Hans; Radeloff, C.; Sauerbrey, G. (July 15, 1961). "Experimental detection of transition radiation." (in English). Phys. Rev. Lett. 7 (2): 52–54. American Physical Society. doi:.
