Power Electronics Handbook

Chapter 1

Power semiconductor devices

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 Historical development

The field of power electronics is not new. The post- and pre-war periods,

from about 1930 to 1950, saw extensive application of power electronics,

based primarily on the mercury arc rectifier and the gas-filled tube.

It was in December 1939 that William Shockley first noted the principle

of a semiconductor which could be used for controlling electrical power.

However, it was not until 23 December 1947, the official date for the

invention of the transistor, that a simple point contact transistor was

demonstrated by William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain ...