'Hughes HS10 series are low cost alloyed junction silicon diodes characterised by good forward conductance and low reverse current at high temperatures', starts an advertisement in the April 5th 1961 issue of Electronics Weekly.
'Made in Glenrothes, Scotland, the Hughes range of silicon and germanium diodes are subminiature devices with extremely stable electrical and mechanical characteristics', continued the ad, 'these diodes are specially designed and constructed to meet the most exacting requirements of military or commercial applications.'
'They are double wire ended and fusion-sealed in a subminiature one-piece glass envelope to ensure complete isolation of the active elements from damage of contamination'.
'The small size, combined with rigidity of construction and small mass of the elements, enable them to withstand successfully physical shock and vibration,' ends the ad.
In 1955, three years before the invention of the IC when the industry was built on discretes, Hughes, one of those companies whuich had got into transistor-making withiout having previously been in the vacuum tube business, had hit the heights of becoming the World's No.1 Semiconductor Manufacturer.
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