The silicon p-n-p-n switch and controlled rectifier (thyristor).

Based on the two-transistor model of Jim Ebers (a p-n-p transistor driving an n-p-n, and the n-p-n driving the p-n-p), the two-terminal and three-terminal Si p-n-p-n switch (low power) originated at Bell Telephone Laboratories (BTL) in 1954-1955. The two-terminal version, with its various limitation...

Full description