What year was silicon first used in electronics?

Answer 1

1955 Silicon dioxide discovery

Carl Frosch and Link Derick at Bell Labs discover that silicon dioxide can act as a diffusion mask. That is, when a silicon wafer is heated to about 1200°C in an atmosphere of water vapor or oxygen, a thin skin of silicon dioxide forms on the surface. With selective etching of the oxide layer, they could diffuse impurities into the silicon to create P-N junctions. Bell Labs engineer John Moll then develops the all-diffused silicon transistor, in which impurities are diffused into the wafer while the active elements are protected by the oxide layer. Silicon begins to replace germanium as the preferred semiconductor for electronics.

Answer 2

The first practical silicon transistor, was announced by Gordon Teal, (R&D chief at Texas Instruments,) in April 1954, after several years of development.

Earlier transistors had used germanium, but these tended to thermally, chemically, and electrically unstable. Silicon offered better performance in most respects, however it would still be almost ten more years before silicon would be improved enough to compete with vacuum tubes.

solid state diodes were invented in 1874, and working, solid state diodes were being produced commercially around 1900

Solid state, field-effect transistors (FET's) had been known since at least 1934, however, no practical working models were built until the work of William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, in 1947, using germanium. Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain had earlier worked on germanium diodes, for use in wartime radar sets.

~Soylent Yellow

Answer 3

The earliest transistors were germanium.