Siliconix

Vishay Siliconix
FormerlySiliconix Inc.
Company typePublic
IndustrySemiconductor
FoundedMarch 5, 1962; 62 years ago (1962-03-05)[1]
Founder
Defunct2005 (2005)
Fateacquired by Vishay Intertechnology
HeadquartersSunnyvale, California

Siliconix Inc., later Temic Siliconix Inc. was a pioneering American semiconductor company known for its MOSFET designs.[2]: B-1  Now a subsidiary brand of Vishay, it was founded by Frances and Bill Hugle in 1962.[3][4]

History

Siliconix was incorporated on March 5, 1962, by husband and wife Frances and Bill Hugle and Richard Lee.[5][6] The Hugles were well known in the semiconductor industry for the works of their previous companies that specialized in optical encoding and circuit production,[7] including at the Baldwin Piano Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.[8] Baldwin later gave the Hugles the capital to raise Siliconix in 1962; also contributing startup capital was the Electronic Engineering Company (EECO) of Santa Ana, California.[9][10]: 126  Lee, meanwhile, had previously worked at Texas Instruments before leaving to cofound Siliconix.[5] At Siliconix, the founders focused on field-effect transistor (FET) design and manifacturing while most other companies were still using bipolar junction transistor (BJT) designs. First products of the company were P-channel junction FETs, N-channel junction FETs, MOSFETs, FET arrays, and power MOSFETs.[10]: 126 

The Hugles went on to found and invest in a number of other electronics companies following the incorporation of Siliconix.[6][11] Frances Hugle died on May 24, 1968, following a six-month-long illness.[6] By the early 1970s, Bill Hugle's role in Siliconix had largely diminished as he began focusing on a political career as the Democratic nominee for California's 12th congressional district. Lee remained principally responsible for Siliconix's day-to-day operations until the mid-1980s, when he expanded the company's executive leadership.[11][2]: B-10  Bill Hugle lost the nomination in 1972 and was later charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1983 of committing espionage in collaboration with a spy for the Polish People's Republic in the early 1970s.[11][12] A grand jury found Hugle not guilty in 1985. He died in 2003.[13]

Throughout the 1980s, Siliconix coasted on the success of its original FET designs, as well as custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), shirking off developing microprocessors and microcontrollers as many other semiconductor pioneers had attempted and either found success or went bankrupt. Through to at least 1985, Siliconix never reported a single quarterly loss.[2]: B-1  By the late 1980s, however, sales began to flounder, and a patent infringement suit lost against International Rectifier forced Siliconix to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1989. They were acquired by TEMIC, a business unit of the German Telefunken company, who renamed the company Temic Siliconix Inc., who pivoted the company toward power management ICs for microcomputers and motion controller chips for hard disk drive controller boards.[14]

In 1997, Vishay started to buy Siliconix stock from various shareholders and practically completed the acquisition of the entire company by 2005.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ "The Semiconductor Company from Another World: The Siliconix Story, Part 4 – Siliconix and Stewart-Warner Microcircuits". EEJournal. June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Hof, Rob (November 10, 1985). "Siliconix: It could have the last laugh". The Peninsula Times Tribune: B-1, B-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Vishay Siliconix - Vishay Brands". www.vishay.com. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  4. ^ "The Semiconductor Company from Another World: The Siliconix Story, Part 4 – Siliconix and Stewart-Warner Microcircuits". EEJournal. June 7, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Emerson, Paul (January 30, 1964). "Siliconix off to good start in race for miniaturization". Palo Alto Times: 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c Staff writer (May 25, 1968). "Frances B. Hugle, Sunnyvale electronics scientist, dies". Palo Alto Times: 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ says, Cheryl Hugle (May 22, 2023). "The Semiconductor Company That Came From Another World: the Siliconix Story, Part 1 – Starting With Star Sapphires". EEJournal. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  8. ^ "The Semiconductor Company from Another World: The Siliconix Story, Part 2 – Starting the Optical Encoder Industry". EEJournal. May 29, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  9. ^ Staff writer (March 19, 1962). "Cal. Electronics Firm Formed". Palo Alto Times: 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Rostky, George (October 30, 1997). "A radio and silicon". Electronic Engineering Times (978). CMP Publications: 113–128 – via ProQuest.
  11. ^ Stein, Mark A. (November 16, 1983). "Alleged 'Big Man' in Spy Case Denies Role". Los Angeles Times: 3, 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Carey, Pete (October 16, 2003). "Silicon Valley Pioneer, Founder of Semiconductor Maker Dies". San Jose Mercury News. Knight Ridder Tribune Business News: 1 – via ProQuest.
  13. ^ Burrows, Peter (May 1993). "Temic tries a new road to profitability". Electronic Business. 19 (5). Reed Business Information: 73 et seq – via Gale.
  14. ^ Staff writer (December 11, 1997). "Vishay Plans to Buy Daimler-Benz Unit for $500 Million". The New York Times: 3 – via ProQuest.
  15. ^ McGrath, Dylan (May 12, 2005). "Vishay completes acquisition of Siliconix common stock". EE Times. Retrieved August 14, 2024.