Pacific Semiconductors Inc. (PSI)
 Courtesy of Semiconductor Museum.
Pacific Semiconductors Inc. was founded in Culver City in 1954 by Dr. Harper North, with assistance from former Hughes colleagues Simon Ramo and Dean Woolridge. North had been the Director of Semiconductor Research at Hughes Aircraft Company. He had been hired by HAC to develop germanium point contact and silicon alloy diodes. Bell Laboratories had published the first transistor design in the late 1940's, and North and others were given the duty of duplicating the design. According to Sanford Barnes, a former employee of North, "This early work at Hughes was started by Dr. North and myself, on a six foot bench in a corner of the missile lab in Culver City, Ca. Simon Ramo and Dean Wooldridge saw the potential of semiconductors for military electronic systems, and this early 1949 work kept Hughes at the leading edge of semiconductor technology for many years."
In 1953, the "Revolt in Culver City," had resulted in many key figures within Hughes Aircraft Co. leaving the company, mostly due to the erratic personality of Howard Hughes. Among those who left were the Director of Guided Missle Research, Simon Ramo, and the Director of Electronics Research and Development, Dean Wooldridge. They began their own company Ramo-Wooldridge Corp., which would eventually merge with Thompson Products, Inc. to become TRW. A year after "the revolt," Dr. Harper North also left Hughes to form Pacific Semiconductors, Inc (PSI), taking with him a group of people who had worked at Hughes. North and PSI would continue the research and development of state of the art diodes, and the development of transistors. |
10451 West Jefferson Blvd.
Culver City, CA. 
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Courtesy of the Semiconductor Museum.
At the early stages of the electronics technology industry, most of the production at PSI was done by hand. Equipment was developed in-house, and was completely proprietary. The equipment industry for developing electronics would not come until a few years later. Early on, PSI was able to secure military funding by gaining a contract for the development of a silicon computer diffused junction diode on behalf of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Engineering Labs. Over the years, PSI would produce a number of quality commercial designs that included the Varicap variable capacitor, a triple diffused mesa transistor, fast-recovery Silicon Diffusion Computer Diodes, Zener Diodes, Plastic Encapsulated Assemblies, Non-Linear resistors, Silicon General Purpose Diodes, Silicon High Conductance Diodes, Very High Frequency Silicon Power Transistors, Silicon High Voltage Rectifiers, and Silicon Very High Voltage Cartridge Rectifiers.
PSI was initially funded as a subsidiary of Ramo-Woolridge (RW), with Dr. Harper North as CEO, but needing to raise additional funds, North approached Thompson Products, an early investor in RW. After Taylor merged with RW, becoming TRW, Pacific Semiconductors Inc. became Semiconductor Division. During the years 1958 to 1965, according to Barnes "the focus at PSI...was primarily to advance the transistor power-frequency curve. Military contracts funded essentially all of this effort, with the resulting devices going into various satellite applications and weapons systems." The developments made on behalf of PSI, made TRW a pioneer in the fields of electronic components, integrated circuits, computers, software and systems engineering. TRW was recruited to develop the U.S. first Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM's), which it contracted to Atlas Corporation's Convair developers. TRW created the Titan Missile, and continued to be a leader in ICBM development for the United States. The Atlas Missile was also adapted for use in the NASA Mercury program (1958-1963) that sent astronauts into orbit in the early years of the space race. In 1965, TRW unincorporated Pacific Semiconductors Inc., and in 2002 TRW merged with Northrup-Grumann. The early participation of both PSI and TRW in the evolution of transistors, semiconductors, and other electronic components for the defense and space initiatives, helped to advance an industry that would later serve as the basis of an entire field of computer technology.
PSI was initially funded as a subsidiary of Ramo-Woolridge (RW), with Dr. Harper North as CEO, but needing to raise additional funds, North approached Thompson Products, an early investor in RW. After Taylor merged with RW, becoming TRW, Pacific Semiconductors Inc. became Semiconductor Division. During the years 1958 to 1965, according to Barnes "the focus at PSI...was primarily to advance the transistor power-frequency curve. Military contracts funded essentially all of this effort, with the resulting devices going into various satellite applications and weapons systems." The developments made on behalf of PSI, made TRW a pioneer in the fields of electronic components, integrated circuits, computers, software and systems engineering. TRW was recruited to develop the U.S. first Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM's), which it contracted to Atlas Corporation's Convair developers. TRW created the Titan Missile, and continued to be a leader in ICBM development for the United States. The Atlas Missile was also adapted for use in the NASA Mercury program (1958-1963) that sent astronauts into orbit in the early years of the space race. In 1965, TRW unincorporated Pacific Semiconductors Inc., and in 2002 TRW merged with Northrup-Grumann. The early participation of both PSI and TRW in the evolution of transistors, semiconductors, and other electronic components for the defense and space initiatives, helped to advance an industry that would later serve as the basis of an entire field of computer technology.
Dyer, Davis. TRW: Pioneering Technology and Innovation Since 1900. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. 1998.
"EARLY SEMICONDUCTOR DEVELOPMENT AT HUGHES - PACIFIC SEMI - TRW: Oral History Sanford Barnes". Semiconductor Museum.
"SEMI Oral History Interview: Joseph C. Ross CEO (retired) Micro Mask Inc.". Interviewed by Craig Addison. SEMI
"EARLY SEMICONDUCTOR DEVELOPMENT AT HUGHES - PACIFIC SEMI - TRW: Oral History Sanford Barnes". Semiconductor Museum.
"SEMI Oral History Interview: Joseph C. Ross CEO (retired) Micro Mask Inc.". Interviewed by Craig Addison. SEMI