Walter Brattain was an American physicist known for his pioneering work in the field of semiconductor physics. Born on February 10, 1902, in Xiamen, China, to American parents, Brattain spent much of his early life in Spokane, Washington. He completed his undergraduate studies at Whitman College and went on to earn his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Minnesota in 1929.
Brattain joined Bell Laboratories in 1929, where he would spend the bulk of his career. His most notable achievement came in 1947 when, along with William Shockley and John Bardeen, he co-invented the transistor. This breakthrough, which earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956, revolutionized the electronics industry, paving the way for modern electronic devices like computers, smartphones, and countless other applications.
The transistor, particularly the point-contact transistor, was an advancement over the cumbersome vacuum tubes, providing a more efficient, reliable, and smaller means of controlling electrical signals. Brattain's work on surface states of semiconductors was instrumental in this development.
Aside from the Nobel Prize, Brattain received numerous awards and honors, including the National Medal of Science in 1967, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. His contributions to science and technology are recognized through several memorials, including:
After leaving Bell Labs in 1967, Brattain became a professor at Whitman College, where he continued his research and teaching until his retirement in 1972. He passed away on October 13, 1987, in Seattle, Washington.