Calvin Souther Fuller
Encyclopedia
Calvin Souther Fuller was a physical chemist at AT&T Bell Laboratories where he worked for 37 years from 1930 to 1967. Fuller was part of a team in basic research
that found answers to physical challenges. He helped develop synthetic rubber
during World War II, he was involved in early experiments of zone melting
, he is credited with devising the method of transistor
production yielding diffusion transistor
s, he produced some of the first solar cell
s with high efficiency, and he researched polymers and their applications.
with William Draper Harkins, gaining a Ph.D. degree in 1929.
In August 1942 Fuller became part of the effort to develop synthetic rubber
as the supply of natural rubber
was cut off by the Japanese. He travelled widely in the USA representing the Office of Rubber Reserve in the Reconstruction Finance Corporation
. The effort involved several academic and industrial laboratories as well as scientists W.O. Baker and J.H. Heiss of Bell Labs. In 16 months they were able to begin production of Government Rubber-Styrene. Fuller and Baker developed methods to perfect the chemical process
for large scale manufacturing.
There were 700,000 tons of the synthetic rubber produced in 1945.
scientists Daryl Chapin and Gerald Pearson, Fuller diffused boron
into silicon
to capture the sun's power. In doing so, they created the first practical means of collecting energy from the sun and turning it into a current of electricity. The invention of the solar battery resulted in a 600% improvement in the ability to harness the sun's power into electricity. First, Fuller ensured that silicon was uncorrupted and pure. Then Fuller accomplished the diffusion of boron into silicon. The inventors used several small strips of silicon to capture sunlight and render it into free electrons. Bell Laboratories, who had funded the research, announced the prototype manufacture of a new solar battery.
Here is a story told by Calvin S. Fuller's oldest son Robert W. Fuller
as part of the speech preparation for Calvin S. Fuller's May 2008 induction to the National Inventor's Hall of Fame: "In 1954 I was home from vacation from college to visit my parents. That night my father, Calvin Souther Fuller, came home with something that looked like a quarter with wires sticking out of it. This was a device that connected to a small electric windmill that stood on the table. He shined a bright flashlight on the quarter-like object, which was actually silicon solar cell, and the blades of the windmill started turning. It was so exciting to see the flashlight power the tiny windmill. While this device looked like a quarter to anyone else, it was actually the world’s first silicon solar battery - a device that later become known as the silicon solar cell."
The first public service trial of the Bell Solar Battery began with a telephone carrier system in 1955 in Americus, Georgia
. By 1958, the US Department of Defense realized an extremely valuable application of this device as it deployed self-sufficient, power to vehicles and satellites in space.
and tensile strength
. Extending the work of Carothers at Du Pont, he investigated the condensation polymers polyester
and polyamide
.
Bell was seeking an ideal insulator
to use in coaxial cable
s which would be effective for high frequency operation. Realizing that polyethelene was free of polar groups, Fuller produced some of the first cable with this now common insulator.
, Stephen Fuller, and John Fuller and eight grandchildren including Ben Fuller, Vice President of Link TV. Fuller moved to Vero Beach, Florida when he reached age 65 and was subject to mandatory retirement from Bell Labs. In retirement he acquired an Airstream
RV and traveled widely in the USA with Willmine. In 1994 Fuller died in Vero Beach
, Florida
at age 92.
Basic Research
Basic Research is an herbal supplement and cosmetics manufacturer based in Salt Lake City, Utah that distributes products through a large number of subsidiaries. In addition, their products are sold domestically and internationally through a number of high-end retailers. Dennis Gay is the...
that found answers to physical challenges. He helped develop synthetic rubber
Synthetic rubber
Synthetic rubber is is any type of artificial elastomer, invariably a polymer. An elastomer is a material with the mechanical property that it can undergo much more elastic deformation under stress than most materials and still return to its previous size without permanent deformation...
during World War II, he was involved in early experiments of zone melting
Zone melting
Zone melting is a group of similar methods of purifying crystals, in which a narrow region of a crystal is molten, and this molten zone is moved along the crystal...
, he is credited with devising the method of transistor
Transistor
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and power. It is composed of a semiconductor material with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals changes the current...
production yielding diffusion transistor
Diffusion transistor
A diffusion transistor is any transistor formed by diffusing dopants into a semiconductor substrate. Diffusion transistors include some types of both bipolar junction transistors and field-effect transistors...
s, he produced some of the first solar cell
Solar cell
A solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
s with high efficiency, and he researched polymers and their applications.
Early life
Fuller studied chemistry at the University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
with William Draper Harkins, gaining a Ph.D. degree in 1929.
In August 1942 Fuller became part of the effort to develop synthetic rubber
Synthetic rubber
Synthetic rubber is is any type of artificial elastomer, invariably a polymer. An elastomer is a material with the mechanical property that it can undergo much more elastic deformation under stress than most materials and still return to its previous size without permanent deformation...
as the supply of natural rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
was cut off by the Japanese. He travelled widely in the USA representing the Office of Rubber Reserve in the Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was an independent agency of the United States government, established and chartered by the US Congress in 1932, Act of January 22, 1932, c. 8, 47 Stat. 5, during the administration of President Herbert Hoover. It was modeled after the War Finance Corporation...
. The effort involved several academic and industrial laboratories as well as scientists W.O. Baker and J.H. Heiss of Bell Labs. In 16 months they were able to begin production of Government Rubber-Styrene. Fuller and Baker developed methods to perfect the chemical process
Chemical process
In a "scientific" sense, a chemical process is a method or means of somehow changing one or more chemicals or chemical compounds. Such a chemical process can occur by itself or be caused by somebody. Such a chemical process commonly involves a chemical reaction of some sort...
for large scale manufacturing.
There were 700,000 tons of the synthetic rubber produced in 1945.
Solar battery
Working with Bell TelephoneBell Telephone
Bell Telephone may refer to:* Bell Telephone Company, several telephone companies with similar names* Bell Telephone Building , various* The Bell Telephone Hour, a long-running radio and television concert program...
scientists Daryl Chapin and Gerald Pearson, Fuller diffused boron
Boron
Boron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the...
into silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
to capture the sun's power. In doing so, they created the first practical means of collecting energy from the sun and turning it into a current of electricity. The invention of the solar battery resulted in a 600% improvement in the ability to harness the sun's power into electricity. First, Fuller ensured that silicon was uncorrupted and pure. Then Fuller accomplished the diffusion of boron into silicon. The inventors used several small strips of silicon to capture sunlight and render it into free electrons. Bell Laboratories, who had funded the research, announced the prototype manufacture of a new solar battery.
Here is a story told by Calvin S. Fuller's oldest son Robert W. Fuller
Robert W. Fuller
Robert W. Fuller earned his Ph.D. in physics at Princeton University in 1961, and taught at Columbia University where he co-authored the book Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics...
as part of the speech preparation for Calvin S. Fuller's May 2008 induction to the National Inventor's Hall of Fame: "In 1954 I was home from vacation from college to visit my parents. That night my father, Calvin Souther Fuller, came home with something that looked like a quarter with wires sticking out of it. This was a device that connected to a small electric windmill that stood on the table. He shined a bright flashlight on the quarter-like object, which was actually silicon solar cell, and the blades of the windmill started turning. It was so exciting to see the flashlight power the tiny windmill. While this device looked like a quarter to anyone else, it was actually the world’s first silicon solar battery - a device that later become known as the silicon solar cell."
The first public service trial of the Bell Solar Battery began with a telephone carrier system in 1955 in Americus, Georgia
Americus, Georgia
-Early years:Americus, Georgia was named and chartered by Sen. Lovett B. Smith in 1832.For its first two decades, Americus was a small courthouse town. The arrival of the railroad in 1854 and, three decades later, local attorney Samuel H. Hawkins' construction of the only privately financed...
. By 1958, the US Department of Defense realized an extremely valuable application of this device as it deployed self-sufficient, power to vehicles and satellites in space.
Polymers
Fuller did basic research on polymers at Bell Labs. He studied how the bonds of the mers determined elasticityElasticity
Elasticity may refer to:*Elasticity , continuum mechanics of bodies that deform reversibly under stressNumerous uses are derived from this physical sense of the term, which is inherently mathematical, such as used in Engineering, Chemistry, Construction and variously in Economics:*Elasticity , the...
and tensile strength
Tensile strength
Ultimate tensile strength , often shortened to tensile strength or ultimate strength, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before necking, which is when the specimen's cross-section starts to significantly contract...
. Extending the work of Carothers at Du Pont, he investigated the condensation polymers polyester
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
and polyamide
Polyamide
A polyamide is a polymer containing monomers of amides joined by peptide bonds. They can occur both naturally and artificially, examples being proteins, such as wool and silk, and can be made artificially through step-growth polymerization or solid-phase synthesis, examples being nylons, aramids,...
.
Bell was seeking an ideal insulator
Insulator
Insulator may refer to:* Insulator , a substance that resists the flow of electric current* Insulator , an element in the genetic code* Thermal insulation, a material used to resist the flow of heat...
to use in coaxial cable
Coaxial cable
Coaxial cable, or coax, has an inner conductor surrounded by a flexible, tubular insulating layer, surrounded by a tubular conducting shield. The term coaxial comes from the inner conductor and the outer shield sharing the same geometric axis...
s which would be effective for high frequency operation. Realizing that polyethelene was free of polar groups, Fuller produced some of the first cable with this now common insulator.
Personal life
Calvin S. Fuller was married to Willmine Fuller. They had three children, Robert W. FullerRobert W. Fuller
Robert W. Fuller earned his Ph.D. in physics at Princeton University in 1961, and taught at Columbia University where he co-authored the book Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics...
, Stephen Fuller, and John Fuller and eight grandchildren including Ben Fuller, Vice President of Link TV. Fuller moved to Vero Beach, Florida when he reached age 65 and was subject to mandatory retirement from Bell Labs. In retirement he acquired an Airstream
Airstream
Airstream is a brand of luxury recreational vehicle manufactured in Jackson Center, Ohio, USA. It is currently a division of Thor Industries. The company, which now employs fewer than 400, is the oldest in the industry. Airstream trailers are easily recognized for their distinctive rounded...
RV and traveled widely in the USA with Willmine. In 1994 Fuller died in Vero Beach
Vero Beach, Florida
Vero Beach is a city in Indian River County, Florida, USA. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 16,939. It is the county seat of Indian River County...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
at age 92.
External links
- Eric Pace (2 November 1994) Calvin Fuller obituary New York Times.
- James J. Bohning (1986) Interview with Calvin S. Fuller at Chemical Heritage FoundationChemical Heritage FoundationThe Chemical Heritage Foundation is a library, museum, and archive in Philadelphia that was founded in 1982. Its founding president was Arnold Thackray, who was winner of the Dexter Award in 1983, and who continued to serve as president thru 2009....
, interview #20. - Capitol Hill Quarterly (April 2009) Fuller diffusing boron into silicon from the American Physical SocietyAmerican Physical SocietyThe American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
. - Howard Reiss (1979) Citation Classic recalling Reiss, Fuller, Morin (1956) "Chemical interactions among defects in germanium and silicon", Bell System Technical Journal 35:535–636.