History
Power electronics started with the development of mercury arc rectifier. Invented by Peter Cooper Hewitt in 1902, the mercury arc rectifier was used to convert alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC). From the 1920's on, research continued on applying thyratrons and grid-controlled mercury arc valves to power transmission. It was not until Uno Lamm developed a valve with grading electrodes that mercury valves were usable for high voltage direct current transmission. In 1933 selenium rectifiers were invented.
In 1947 the bipolar point-contact transistor was invented by Walter H. Brattain and John Bardeen under the direction of William Shockley at the Bell Telephone Laboratory. In 1948 the invention of the bipolar junction transistor by Shockley improved the stability and performance of transistors, and reduced the cost of manufacture. By the 1950s, semiconductor power diodes became available and started replacing vacuum tubes. Then in 1956 the Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) was introduced by General Electric, greatly increasing the range of power electronics applications.
In the 1960s the switching speed of BJTs allowed for high frequency DC/DC converters. In 1976 power MOSFET becomes commercially available. In 1982 the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) was introduced.
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