: In 1956, a team at General Electric , led by J. Moll, invented the thyristor (silicon-controlled rectifier). This sparked the "second electronics revolution," replacing large mercury valves with compact silicon wafers that could switch heavy loads.
Before the mid-20th century, controlling large amounts of electricity was a mechanical and often inefficient task. Download Power Electronics (1) pdf
: By the 1970s and 80s, the development of the Power MOSFET and the IGBT (Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor) gave engineers the ability to switch power at high frequencies with incredible precision. This led to the creation of the switch-mode power supplies (SMPS) that today make our laptops and phone chargers compact and light. Power Electronics Today: The Silent Force Introduction to Power Electronics - IQY Technical College : In 1956, a team at General Electric , led by J
: These early, glowing vacuum devices allowed for the electrification of railways and early industrial processes, though they were limited by their massive size and low reliability. The Semiconductor Revolution (1956–1980s) Before the mid-20th century, controlling large amounts of
: The journey began in 1902 with Peter Cooper Hewitt's invention of the mercury-arc rectifier , the first device capable of converting alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC) at a meaningful scale.