Milestone-Proposal:Unipolar conduction of metal-semiconductor junctions
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Docket #:2023-07
This proposal has been submitted for review.
To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation? No
Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old? Yes
Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy. Yes
Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity? Yes
Was it of at least regional importance? Yes
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)? Yes
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony? Yes
Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated? Yes
Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone? Yes
Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:
1874
Title of the proposed milestone:
Unipolar conduction of metal-semiconductor junctions, 1874
Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance:
In the physics laboratory of the "Thomasschule" in Leipzig in November 1874, Ferdinand Braun reported the observation that the electrical resistance of an arrangement of a wire electrode pressed by a spring against a metal sulfide crystal was dependent on direction, intensity and duration of the electrical current. This discovery of the rectifying action of a semiconductor barrier marks the beginning of solid state electronics.
200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.
It should be noted that when Ferdinand Braun discovered the rectifier effect in 1874, there was no need for a technical application. It was not until twelve years later, in 1886, that Heinrich Hertz was the first to succeed in experimentally generating and proving free electromagnetic waves. Even then, it took some time before the crystal rectifier effect was mastered to the point where a detector application for receiving radio waves could be used. The first one who has constructed and applied a semiconductor rectifier for the detection of electromagnetic waves has been Jagadis Chandra Bose in Kolkata, India. He used galena (lead sulfide) crystals contacted by a metal wire to detect millimeter waves. He reported this invention in the April 27, 1899, meeting of the Royal Society, London. Bose’s detector has been used in Marconi’s first transatlantic radio transmission facilitated by Ferdinand Brauns coupled resonant circuit. A major obstacle to the development of technical applications was the lack of theoretical understanding of the effect. It took more than fifty years after Braun’s discovery until in 1928 the works of Arnold Sommerfeld and Felix Bloch provided an understanding of the properties of solids on the basis of quantum mechanics. Finally, upon this basis Walter Schottky presented a semiconductor theory of the junction and peak rectifiers in 1939.
IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.
IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS), IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS)
In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?
IEEE Germany
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):
Unit: IEEE Germany
Senior Officer Name: Prof. Dr. Jan Haase
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:
Unit: IEEE Germany
Senior Officer Name: Prof. Dr. Jan Haase
IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):
IEEE Section: IEEE Germany
IEEE Section Chair name: Prof. Dr. Jan Haase
Milestone proposer(s):
Proposer name: Dr. Frank Dittmann
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Dr. Joachim Wiest
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):
Hillerstraße 7, 04109 Leipzig / Germany - 51.33665, 12.35948
Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.
Please give the address(es) of the plaque site(s) (GPS coordinates if you have them). Also please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need. Ferdinand Braun discovered the achievement at the "Thomasschule" in Leipzig. The plaque will be installed at the courtyard Hillerstraße of todays building of the "Thomasschule" in Leipzig. There are no other historical markers at the courtyard.
Are the original buildings extant?
The original buildings are not extant but the "Thomasschule" in Leipzig is still extant: See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Thomas_School,_Leipzig
Details of the plaque mounting:
The plaque will be installed at the ouside wall of the main entrance from Hillerstrasse.
How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?
The plaque will be on the property of "Thomasschule" in Leipzig in the courtyard. It is accessible to the public daily from 07:00 AM to 08:00 PM. The ground is closed during night.
Who is the present owner of the site(s)?
The city of Leipzig is the owner of "Thomasschule" in Leipzig.
What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include justification here. (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)
In the physics laboratory of the "Thomasschule" in Leipzig in November 1874, Ferdinand Braun reported the observation that the electrical resistance of an arrangement of a wire electrode pressed by a spring against a metal sulfide crystal was dependent on direction, intensity and duration of the electrical current. This discovery of the rectifying action of a semiconductor barrier marks the beginning of solid state electronics.
It should be noted that when Ferdinand Braun discovered the rectifier effect in 1874, there was no need for a technical application. It was not until twelve years later, in 1886, that Heinrich Hertz was the first to succeed in experimentally generating and proving free electromagnetic waves. Even then, it took some time before the crystal rectifier effect was mastered to the point where a detector application for receiving radio waves could be used. The first one who has constructed and applied a semiconductor rectifier for the detection of electromagnetic waves has been Jagadis Chandra Bose in Kolkata, India. He used galena (lead sulfide) crystals contacted by a metal wire to detect millimeter waves. He reported this invention in the April 27, 1899, meeting of the Royal Society, London. Bose’s detector has been used in Marconi’s first transatlantic radio transmission facilitated by Ferdinand Brauns coupled resonant circuit. A major obstacle to the development of technical applications was the lack of theoretical understanding of the effect. It took more than fifty years after Braun’s discovery until in 1928 the works of Arnold Sommerfeld and Felix Bloch provided an understanding of the properties of solids on the basis of quantum mechanics. Finally, upon this basis Walter Schottky presented a semiconductor theory of the junction and peak rectifiers in 1939.
Justification for Inclusion of the Name Ferdinand Braun in the Citation:
After decades it has become a historical fact with incontrovertible evidence that Ferdinand Braun was central to the achievement of the discovery of the unipolar conduction of metal-semiconductor junctions [1-7] and should therefore be mentioned in the citation. The attached reference by Prof. Peter Russer gives additional evidence for the justification.
What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?
There were no technical, political, or geographical obstacles to be overcome.
What features set this work apart from similar achievements?
It is interesting that the semiconductor junction effect, the earliest electronic effect discovered, has fully eclipsed the competing effects. Coherers and fritters only played a role in the early days of radio technology. After its invention by Lee de Forest and Robert von Lieben from 1906 until the 1950s, the vacuum tube dominated radio technology and electronics. Starting with the discovery of Ferdinand Braun, semiconductor electronics developed slowly at first, then from the 1940s through sound theoretical understanding, ongoing technology development, the invention of transistor and since the 1960s the development of integrated circuits brought technological innovations that determine our entire living environment. The impetus for the economic, technological and cultural development of mankind that came from Ferdinand Braun's discovery in 1874 cannot be overestimated.
Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.
[1] Braun, F. (1874), "Ueber die Stromleitung durch Schwefelmetalle" [On current conduction through metal sulfides], Annalen der Physik und Chemie (in German), 153 (4): 556–563, Bibcode:1875AnP...229..556B, doi:10.1002/andp.18752291207 Media:Ueber die Stromleitung durch Schwefelmetalle.pdf
[2] Translation of Braun, F. (1874), "Ueber die Stromleitung durch Schwefelmetalle" [On current conduction through metal sulfides], Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 153 (4): 556–563 Media:Braun_unipolar_translated_1874.pdf
[3] Robert Friedel, A Somewhat Forgotten Physicist: Ferdinand Braun. A Life of the Nobel Prizewinner and Inventor of the Cathode-Ray Oscilloscope. Friedrich Kurylo and Charles Susskind. Translation and revision of the German edition (Munich, 1965). MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1981. xviii, 290 pp., illus. $29.95..Science215, 655-656(1982).DOI:10.1126/science.215.4533.655 Media:science.215.4533.655.pdf
[4] Schreier, W. Ferdinand Braun in Leipzig. NTM N.S. 8, 201–208 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02914193 Media:BF02914193.pdf
[5] P. Russer, "Ferdinand Braun — A pioneer in wireless technology and electronics," 2009 European Microwave Conference (EuMC), Rome, Italy, 2009, pp. 547-554, doi: 10.23919/EUMC.2009.5296324. Media:Ferdinand Braun A pioneer in wireless technology and electronics.pdf
[6] G. L. Pearson and W. H. Brattain, "History of Semiconductor Research," in Proceedings of the IRE, vol. 43, no. 12, pp. 1794-1806, Dec. 1955, doi: 10.1109/JRPROC.1955.278042. Media:History_of_Semiconductor_Research.pdf
[7] T. C. McGill, C. A. Mead; Electrical interface barriers. Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology 1 January 1974; 11 (1): 122–127. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1318540 Media:Gill_Electrical_interface_barriers.pdf
Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.
IEEE Germany agreement Media:IEEE_OU_agreement.pdf
City of Leipzig consent (German) Media:GenehmigungPlakette Braun.pdf
City of Leipzig consent (English) Media:Transcript of the confirmation by the city of Leipzig.pdf
Reference Peter Russer Media:Reference_Prof_Russer_20230504.pdf
Reference Steven Stitzer Media:Reference_Steven_Stitzer_230717.pdf
Please email a jpeg or PDF a letter in English, or with English translation, from the site owner(s) giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property, and a letter (or forwarded email) from the appropriate Section Chair supporting the Milestone application to ieee-history@ieee.org with the subject line "Attention: Milestone Administrator." Note that there are multiple texts of the letter depending on whether an IEEE organizational unit other than the section will be paying for the plaque(s).
Please recommend reviewers by emailing their names and email addresses to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please include the docket number and brief title of your proposal in the subject line of all emails.
