| Russell Ohl |
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Russell Ohl’s specialized area of research was into the behavior of certain types of Crystal s. He worked on materials research in the 1930’s at AT&T 's Bell Labs ’ Holmdel facility, investigating diode detectors suitable for High-frequency Wireless , Broadcasting , and Military Radar . His work was only understood by a handful of scientists in the organization, one of whom was Dr. Walter Brattain (one of the trio who invented the germanium bipolar transistor in 1947, and who would be awarded the Nobel Prize For Physics in 1956). Ohl, in 1939, discovered the PN barrier (or as it became known - the “ PN Junction ”). At the time hardly anyone knew anything about the impurities within these crystals, but Russell Ohl discovered the mechanism by which it worked. It was the impurities which made some sections more Resistant to Electric al flow than others, and thus it was the "barrier" between these areas of different purity that made the crystal work. Ohl later found that super-purifying Germanium was the key to making repeatable and usable semiconductor material for Diode s. All diodes (incl. LEDs, laser diodes etc) are descendants of Ohl's work. His work with diodes led him later to develop the first selenium solar cells. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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