Much thanks and appreciation to Mr. Grace for taking the time to write about this major oversight on our part. While this short article was really meant to give a quick historical nod to gallium arsenide (GaAs) as a semiconductor material, it is important to recognize the importance of germanium in the development of the transistor. As Mr. Grace points out, the use of germanium materials made it possible to better understand the fundamental physics that would serve as the knowledge base for creating transistors and other semiconductor devices from other substrate materials. We often take for granted the diversity of materialsincluding indium phosphide (InP), GaAs, silicon carbide (SiC), and gallium nitride (GaN)now available to us, and easily forget that it was germanium that made all this possible. Again, thanks to Mr. Grace for helping to set the record straight.
Jack Browne
Technical Contributor