Werner Jacobi (inventor)

Werner Jacobi (born March 31, 1904 in Fulda , † probably May 3, 1985, presumably in Munich ) was a German physicist and inventor.

life and work

Jacobi studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Munich and then physics at the University of Munich . In his dissertation , initially supervised by Wilhelm Wien and after his death by Eduard Rüchardt , he dealt with the charges of the mercury atoms in the canal beam . With this work he was promoted to Dr. phil. PhD .

On November 4, 1929 Jacobi joined Siemens & Halske AG . He worked at the Siemens tube factory in Berlin, where he became head of the laboratory in 1934 and quickly rose further. In 1935 he became a civil servant , in 1937 a chief engineer and in 1938 an authorized representative . Shortly after his appointment as collective authorized signatory , he was transferred to the Wernerwerk for radio technology in Vienna in 1941 , where he became department director in 1944. In 1949 he worked briefly at the Wernerwerk for radio technology, then went to the Wernerwerk in Erlangen . One of the most important of his more than 100 inventions, the "semiconductor amplifier" for which a patent was applied for on April 15, 1949, also fell during this period . This circuit, consisting of five transistors on a semiconductor serving as a carrier material, can be called the first integrated circuit . However, it remained largely unknown and was not used commercially.

From 1946 to 1956 Jacobi played a key role in setting up the Siemens tube factories and then became the overall manager of the tube works. After he was appointed General Manager in 1962 , he retired in 1969. Up until his 68th birthday, he was available to the management of the building elements division for questions, when he left the company entirely.

The Technical University of Vienna awarded him an honorary doctorate in technical sciences in 1972 “in recognition of his special achievements as a scientist and inventor in the field of electronic components and electronic circuit technology”.

The British electronics engineer Geoffrey Dummer is also often referred to as the inventor of the IC, although he did not publish his work until 3 years after the Siemens patent application was filed.

swell

• Werner Jacobis personnel index card in the Siemens archive
• Contribution to the award of an honorary doctorate. In: Information from the Vienna University of Technology . Year 3, 1972, issue 2, p. 27 (with portrait photo).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Werner Jacobi: About the charges of the mercury atoms in the canal beam . Hirzel, Leipzig 1929, plus Munich, Phil. Diss., 1929, also in: Physikalische Zeitschrift . Volume 30, 1929, pp. 568-576.
2. ↑ Patent DE833366 : semiconductor amplifier . Registered on April 15, 1949 , applicant: SIEMENS AG, inventor: Werner Jacobi. ‌
3. ^ TU Wien: Honorary doctorates ( Memento from February 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ).