How to research the history of a particular electronic component? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: flimshaw
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2017, 04:02:19 pm
content: Hi everybody,I've been getting deeper into transistors and basic analog circuitry and amplifiers, and I want to know more about the creation of some of the jelly bean parts that have been kicking around since the 1960s like the 3904/6 or 2222. The 3904 has a wikipedia page (link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2N3904), but it's light on historical details, saying only that "the type was registered by Motorola Semiconductor in the mid-sixties". Could someone explain what a "type" is in this context? What public documents might be available from the initial launch of a component like the 3904? Would it be a patent or a trademark? Or perhaps press releases or something from the company at that time? How would I find the names of the engineers who worked on them?Thanks in advance, any ideas on specific documents or sources I might look for would be very much appreciated!

author: rfeecs
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2017, 04:13:32 pm
content: The Transistor Museum website is one place:http://semiconductormuseum.com/Museum_Index.htmThere are oral history interviews with the engineers that worked on early transistors. Here's one on the 2N2222:http://semiconductormuseum.com/Transistors/Motorola/Haenichen/Haenichen_Index.htm

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2017, 04:50:35 pm
content: You'd be looking at press releases and databooks of the period. Ideally, you would search every year of a company's catalogs, and note the earliest appearance of each type...It would be nice to run a search like this, but the usual suspects don't have much data on the listings they have. For example, Datasheet Archive has catalogs in their library, but the file lacks title, heading, print date, etc.; you just get whatever pages someone scanned, none of that sweet sweet metadata.So, outside of special cases, like the Transistor Museum, you're not screwed by any means, but you're also not likely to find it in five minutes of searching.Tim

author: elecman14
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 27, 2017, 05:49:35 pm
content: If you really wanted to see all the details find Product Change Notifications (PCN) for the part would be the way to go. Finding those from something that was released in the 60's would be a challenge though. Not even sure if they were doing something like that back then. It was a little before my time.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2017, 07:40:41 pm
content: The various scans available online are usually newer datasheets so you may be stuck looking for old databooks. I have been trying for ages to find the original datasheets for the 2N3055 which went through many different processes with the modern parts performing nothing like the original.If it is not on the Internet, then it does not exist. - Jame Burke

author: N2IXK
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2017, 07:29:06 pm
content: As far as JEDEC registered semiconductors, the original EIA registration paperwork would indicate who developed the part, and almost always included a copy of the original datasheet, as well as any changes/revisions that were made over the production life.Over 17,000 early semiconductor registrations are available as part of the "EIA Data Cache" from the Tube Collector's Association. Each "release" contained data on at least one new device from one manufacturer, and over the years data was collected from other manufacturers who wanted to second-source the parts and wanted to modify the "official" specs in some way to accommodate their processes, etc.If you want to get a copy of the Data Cache for yourself, it is available here:http://www.tubecollectors.org/announc.htmI tried to post the data for the 2N3055 (Registered in 1969 by RCA), but the file exceeds the 1Mb attachment limit. If you want a copy of it, PM me and let me know how to send it to you,