Some advantages of silicon transistors in circuit design

After transistors had been used for industrial instrumentation within the Development and Engineering Group of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority for some years, silicon transistors were adopted for general-purpose use, as they were expected to be more reliable than germanium transistors. It has since become apparent that they possess more advantages over germanium transistors than is generally recognized, or was thought at the time of their adoption. For example, direct coupling of transistor circuits is facilitated and the number of components required may be much reduced; the use electrolytic capacitors may be avoided. The paper compares the performance of silicon and germanium transistors from the viewpoint of the circuit designer; physical origins of their characteristics are not discussed. A range of circuits which take advantage of the characteristics peculiar to silicon transistors is described. The circuits are for direct-coupled amplifiers, current amplifiers for small signals, switching applications and multivibrators with long periods.