'Epitaxial transistors very soon . . . .planar devices by early 1962. These are the basic plans of the Ferranti Electronics Department, but they are by no means the only plans,' is how a story starts in the April 19th 1961 issue of Electronics Weekly.
'Work is processing at high speed on epitaxial techniques, and the wafers of material are being produced by Ferranti in their own plant'.
'Epitaxial layers are being deposited at a rate of one micron per minute, and it was stated that a sufficiently high rate of production to meet production demands could be maintained. Work on epitaxy began at Ferranti early in 1960'.
'Work on planar devices is not so advanced but progress is being made'.
'The p-n-p-n switches are undergoing further development, firstly, with a view of improving the switching definition.'
'Switching rates have been restricted to 10V per millisecond, current work is aimed at making possible switching rates of 100V per millisecond.'
'Mr J.C.Heywood, sales manager, speaking about solar cells, a field in which Ferranti has carried out a great deal of work, pointed to some of the problems relating to their manufacture.'
'High on the lost is that of the quantity of silicon consumed. This material cannot be redirected from other device lines without slowing these lines.'
"But", said Mr Heywood, "satisfactory use of solar cells demands large numbers of them. Unless we are assured of large orders, it is difficult to justify the high initial investment required."
TOMORROW: TEN WORST SEMICONDUCTOR MARKET FORECASTS
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