Components naming

[Olivier Scalbert]

Hello,

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are
organized. Why a 2N3055 is called 2N3055 and LM741 is called LM741 ?
Who decide this and how it is organized ?

Thanks,

Olivier

 

[Phil Allison]

"Olivier Scalbert"

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are organized.

** Mostly it is not organised at all - but some countries have industry
organizations that attempt to catalogue and rationalise the huge number of
semiconductor parts that have been created.

Why a 2N3055 is called 2N3055 ...

** The "2N..... " series covered by " JADEC " = a US based industry
organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEDEC

Use Google for more on JADEC.

and LM741 is called LM741 ?

** Fairchild developed the original device called " uA741 " back in
68 - at a hunch "uA" stands for "micro Amplifier" .

Then National Semiconductor made a version of it called LM741 " - "LM"
standing for " Linear Monolithic".

The 2, 3 and 4 numbers relate mostly to when, in a long line of device
development, a particular one originated.

There is not a great deal to be learnt from studying the numbers, except
maybe to identify if the device was originally of US, Asian or European
origin.

For example, all " 2S ..... " numbers are originally of Asian origin.



..... Phil

 

[Olivier Scalbert]

Phil Allison wrote:

"Olivier Scalbert"

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are organized.


** Mostly it is not organised at all - but some countries have industry
organizations that attempt to catalogue and rationalise the huge number of
semiconductor parts that have been created.


Why a 2N3055 is called 2N3055 ...

** The "2N..... " series covered by " JADEC " = a US based industry
organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEDEC

Use Google for more on JADEC.


and LM741 is called LM741 ?


** Fairchild developed the original device called " uA741 " back in
68 - at a hunch "uA" stands for "micro Amplifier" .

Then National Semiconductor made a version of it called LM741 " - "LM"
standing for " Linear Monolithic".

The 2, 3 and 4 numbers relate mostly to when, in a long line of device
development, a particular one originated.

There is not a great deal to be learnt from studying the numbers, except
maybe to identify if the device was originally of US, Asian or European
origin.

For example, all " 2S ..... " numbers are originally of Asian origin.



.... Phil

Thanks for the infos and for the links Phil !
Olivier

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Phil Allison wrote:

"Olivier Scalbert"

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are organized.

** Mostly it is not organised at all - but some countries have industry
organizations that attempt to catalogue and rationalise the huge number of
semiconductor parts that have been created.

Why a 2N3055 is called 2N3055 ...

** The "2N..... " series covered by " JEDEC " = a US based industry
organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEDEC

Use Google for more on JEDEC.

and LM741 is called LM741 ?

** Fairchild developed the original device called " uA741 " back in
68 - at a hunch "uA" stands for "micro Amplifier".

Close. Fairchild used 'ľ' on their ICs and the 'A' was for analog so
ľA indicates that it is an analog IC.

Then National Semiconductor made a version of it called LM741 " - "LM"
standing for " Linear Monolithic".

The 2, 3 and 4 numbers relate mostly to when, in a long line of device
development, a particular one originated.

There is not a great deal to be learnt from studying the numbers, except
maybe to identify if the device was originally of US, Asian or European
origin.

For example, all " 2S ..... " numbers are originally of Asian origin.

.... Phil

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[ian field]

"Phil Allison" <philallison@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:6no22fFmkgdkU1@mid.individual.net...

"Olivier Scalbert"

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are organized.


** Mostly it is not organised at all - but some countries have industry
organizations that attempt to catalogue and rationalise the huge number of
semiconductor parts that have been created.


Why a 2N3055 is called 2N3055 ...

** The "2N..... " series covered by " JADEC " = a US based industry
organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEDEC

Use Google for more on JADEC.


and LM741 is called LM741 ?


** Fairchild developed the original device called " uA741 " back in
- at a hunch "uA" stands for "micro Amplifier" .

Then National Semiconductor made a version of it called LM741 " -
"LM" standing for " Linear Monolithic".

The 2, 3 and 4 numbers relate mostly to when, in a long line of device
development, a particular one originated.

There is not a great deal to be learnt from studying the numbers, except
maybe to identify if the device was originally of US, Asian or European
origin.

For example, all " 2S ..... " numbers are originally of Asian origin.

Not *ALL* 2S transistors are Asian, Texas Instruments produced 2S type
numbers following their earlier 2G types.

 

[ian field]

"Olivier Scalbert" <olivier.scalbert@algosyn.com> wrote in message
news:4916c9e0$0$2846$ba620e4c@news.skynet.be...

Hello,

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are organized.
Why a 2N3055 is called 2N3055 and LM741 is called LM741 ?
Who decide this and how it is organized ?

2N prefixes refer to the number of junctions, there is no specific
nomenclature to determine what the number will turn out to be the numbers
are simply assigned to new devices in serial fashion as they are developed.

Obviously diodes start with 1N as they only have one junction, 3N can be
many things such as JFETs with a substrate connection or bipolar transistors
with dual emitters etc.

 

[Phil Allison]

"ian field"
"Phil Allison"

"Olivier Scalbert"

For example, all " 2S ..... " numbers are originally of Asian origin.


Not *ALL* 2S transistors are Asian, Texas Instruments produced 2S type
numbers following their earlier 2G types.

** What an extraordinarily obscure fact - seems the G and S refer to
Germanium and Silicon types.

Naturally I was thinking of the all the thousands of 2SA , 2SB, 2SC or 2SD
prefix types that originate in Asia and are found in damn near everything.




..... Phil

 

[Eeyore]

Phil Allison wrote:

"Olivier Scalbert"

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are organized.

** Mostly it is not organised at all - but some countries have industry
organizations that attempt to catalogue and rationalise the huge number of
semiconductor parts that have been created.

Why a 2N3055 is called 2N3055 ...

** The "2N..... " series covered by " JADEC "

JEDEC actually.

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

Phil Allison wrote:

"Olivier Scalbert"

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are organized.

** Mostly it is not organised at all - but some countries have industry
organizations that attempt to catalogue and rationalise the huge number of
semiconductor parts that have been created.

Why a 2N3055 is called 2N3055 ...

** The "2N..... " series covered by " JADEC " = a US based industry
organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEDEC

Use Google for more on JADEC.

and LM741 is called LM741 ?

** Fairchild developed the original device called " uA741 " back in
68 - at a hunch "uA" stands for "micro Amplifier" .

Then National Semiconductor made a version of it called LM741 " - "LM"
standing for " Linear Monolithic".

And LH was linear Hybrid. DM was Digital Monolithic.

Goodness knows where all the other ones came from. Like RCA's CD = CMOS Digital
? And there were definitely CA = CMOS Analog ICs too like the CA3140.

Philips' P is simple. Processor. TL = Texas Linear ?

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

ian field wrote:

"Olivier Scalbert" <olivier.scalbert@algosyn.com> wrote

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are organized.
Why a 2N3055 is called 2N3055 and LM741 is called LM741 ?
Who decide this and how it is organized ?


2N prefixes refer to the number of junctions, there is no specific
nomenclature to determine what the number will turn out to be the numbers
are simply assigned to new devices in serial fashion as they are developed.

Obviously diodes start with 1N as they only have one junction, 3N can be
many things such as JFETs with a substrate connection or bipolar transistors
with dual emitters etc.

And then you get 'house numbers' too like RCA's 40411 and TI's TIP series (Texas
Instruments Power ?).

Not to mention all the European Pro-Electron devices. First letter A is
Germaniun or B for silicon. Then it starts getting complicated. Another A should
be a diode (small signal only?), C a general purpose transistor. F is a high
frequency transistor. D is a power device. BZYs and BZXs are zeners IIRC (why 2
types or maybe only one is power diode and the other a zener). Etc.

Graham

 

[Olivier Scalbert]

Eeyore wrote:

And then you get 'house numbers' too like RCA's 40411 and TI's TIP series (Texas
Instruments Power ?).

Not to mention all the European Pro-Electron devices. First letter A is
Germaniun or B for silicon. Then it starts getting complicated. Another A should
be a diode (small signal only?), C a general purpose transistor. F is a high
frequency transistor. D is a power device. BZYs and BZXs are zeners IIRC (why 2
types or maybe only one is power diode and the other a zener). Etc.

Graham


Interesting. I did not remember me that AC127 AC128 AC132 were germanium

transistors ! And by the way there is also the OCxx family ...

Olivier

 

[ian field]

"Olivier Scalbert" <olivier.scalbert@algosyn.com> wrote in message
news:49187a72$0$2865$ba620e4c@news.skynet.be...

Eeyore wrote:

And then you get 'house numbers' too like RCA's 40411 and TI's TIP series
(Texas
Instruments Power ?).

Not to mention all the European Pro-Electron devices. First letter A is
Germaniun or B for silicon. Then it starts getting complicated. Another A
should
be a diode (small signal only?), C a general purpose transistor. F is a
high
frequency transistor. D is a power device. BZYs and BZXs are zeners IIRC
(why 2
types or maybe only one is power diode and the other a zener). Etc.

Graham


Interesting. I did not remember me that AC127 AC128 AC132 were germanium
transistors ! And by the way there is also the OCxx family ...

Did anyone ever clear up whether it was an 0 or an o ?

Some people maintain that its 0 (zero) for no heater while others insist
that its an o.

 

[whit3rd]

On Nov 10, 9:12 am, Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelati...@hotmail.com>
wrote:

"Olivier Scalbert"

I am curious to know how the naming of transistors and ICs are organized.

? And there were definitely CA = CMOS Analog ICs too like the CA3140.

Actually, 'CA' prefix was for all RCA analog ICs, like CA741 and
CA3080 (neither of which had any MOS or CMOS character).

JEDEC (Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council) system
borrows the vacuum-tube 'first digit = number of electrodes minus 1'
syntax (thus, 1Nxxx for diodes, 2Nxxx for triodes like bipolar
transistors, or FET transistors, or thyristors, 3Nxxx for some dual-
gate
FETs, and 4Nxxx numbers for some optoisolators).

"JIS" is, I believe, the Japanese system, same number
syntax but the second letter indicates function (2SAxxx and 2SBxxx
are PNP bipolar, 2SCxxx and 2SDxxx are NPN, 2SJxxx are P-channel
FETs or MOSFETs and 2SKxxx are N-channel).

For more, see <http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/tshoot.htm#tshtrd>

Presumably, any manufacturer that can meet the published
specifications
can make a 2N2222 transistor, it isn't a trademark at all.
A TIP31 transistor, on the other hand, 'Texas Instrument Plastic', is
presumably not a second-sourced part until/unless TI allows it?
Motorola, and perhaps others, DOES offer TIP31...
That does puzzle me. Can anyone fill in the story on this?

 

[whit3rd]

On Nov 10, 5:10 pm, whit3rd <whit...@gmail.com> wrote:

JEDEC (Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council) system
  borrows the vacuum-tube 'first digit = number of electrodes minus 1'
  syntax

Oops - that's misleading; in vacuum tubes the rule was
first digits := heater voltage
followed by some letters, then
more digits := number of electrodes minus 1
then more letters

How quickly we forget...

 

[Eeyore]

Olivier Scalbert wrote:

Eeyore wrote:

And then you get 'house numbers' too like RCA's 40411 and TI's TIP series (Texas
Instruments Power ?).

Not to mention all the European Pro-Electron devices. First letter A is
Germaniun or B for silicon. Then it starts getting complicated. Another A should
be a diode (small signal only?), C a general purpose transistor. F is a high
frequency transistor. D is a power device. BZYs and BZXs are zeners IIRC (why 2
types or maybe only one is power diode and the other a zener). Etc.

Interesting. I did not remember me that AC127 AC128 AC132 were germanium
transistors ! And by the way there is also the OCxx family ...

I think the OCs may have been earlier as there was an OC71 small signal device and an
OC35 and/or36 ? power (35W?) device in TO-3 so they weren't distinguishing them then.

OC71s were painted with black paint over a glass tube and it was popular for hobbyists
to scrath the paint off to make a photo-transistor. The AC's above were in a metal can
to prevent such tomfoolery ! And I vaguely remember some AD161/162 TO-66 complementary
output pair. Hah ! Pd = 6W !
http://en.marketgid.com/goods/1450/9849/

Tj max 90C !

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

ian field wrote:

"Olivier Scalbert" wrote in message
Eeyore wrote:

And then you get 'house numbers' too like RCA's 40411 and TI's TIP series
(Texas Instruments Power ?).

Not to mention all the European Pro-Electron devices. First letter A is
Germaniun or B for silicon. Then it starts getting complicated. Another A
should be a diode (small signal only?), C a general purpose transistor. F
is a
high frequency transistor. D is a power device. BZYs and BZXs are zeners
IIRC
(why 2 types or maybe only one is power diode and the other a zener). Etc.

Interesting. I did not remember me that AC127 AC128 AC132 were germanium
transistors ! And by the way there is also the OCxx family ...

Did anyone ever clear up whether it was an 0 or an o ?

Some people maintain that its 0 (zero) for no heater while others insist
that its an o.

The capital letter O without doubt. Might even have some kicking around. I think
I had some GET102s as well..

Graham

 

[Rich Grise]

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:32:05 +0000, ian field wrote:

"Olivier Scalbert" <olivier.scalbert@algosyn.com> wrote in message

Interesting. I did not remember me that AC127 AC128 AC132 were germanium
transistors ! And by the way there is also the OCxx family ...

Did anyone ever clear up whether it was an 0 or an o ?

Some people maintain that its 0 (zero) for no heater while others insist
that its an o.

If it's a voltage regulator tooooob, then it's zero (for zero filament
voltage; cold-cathode tooooobz don't have a heater).

Cheers!
Rich

 

[ian field]

"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4919DF41.4DEB3712@hotmail.com...

ian field wrote:

"Olivier Scalbert" wrote in message
Eeyore wrote:

And then you get 'house numbers' too like RCA's 40411 and TI's TIP
series
(Texas Instruments Power ?).

Not to mention all the European Pro-Electron devices. First letter A
is
Germaniun or B for silicon. Then it starts getting complicated.
Another A
should be a diode (small signal only?), C a general purpose
transistor. F
is a
high frequency transistor. D is a power device. BZYs and BZXs are
zeners
IIRC
(why 2 types or maybe only one is power diode and the other a zener).
Etc.

Interesting. I did not remember me that AC127 AC128 AC132 were
germanium
transistors ! And by the way there is also the OCxx family ...

Did anyone ever clear up whether it was an 0 or an o ?

Some people maintain that its 0 (zero) for no heater while others insist
that its an o.

The capital letter O without doubt. Might even have some kicking around. I
think
I had some GET102s as well..

I have a component draw reserved for germanium devices - in pride of place
is a small stash of genuine new OCP71s

 

[ian field]

"Rich Grise" <rich@example.net> wrote in message
newsan.2008.11.11.19.44.06.14118@example.net...

On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 19:32:05 +0000, ian field wrote:
"Olivier Scalbert" <olivier.scalbert@algosyn.com> wrote in message

Interesting. I did not remember me that AC127 AC128 AC132 were germanium
transistors ! And by the way there is also the OCxx family ...

Did anyone ever clear up whether it was an 0 or an o ?

Some people maintain that its 0 (zero) for no heater while others insist
that its an o.

If it's a voltage regulator tooooob, then it's zero (for zero filament
voltage; cold-cathode tooooobz don't have a heater).

Cheers!
Rich

We were discussing early British transistors.

 

[ian field]

"Eeyore" <rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4919DEC4.B515B623@hotmail.com...

Olivier Scalbert wrote:

Eeyore wrote:

And then you get 'house numbers' too like RCA's 40411 and TI's TIP
series (Texas
Instruments Power ?).

Not to mention all the European Pro-Electron devices. First letter A is
Germaniun or B for silicon. Then it starts getting complicated. Another
A should
be a diode (small signal only?), C a general purpose transistor. F is a
high
frequency transistor. D is a power device. BZYs and BZXs are zeners
IIRC (why 2
types or maybe only one is power diode and the other a zener). Etc.

Interesting. I did not remember me that AC127 AC128 AC132 were germanium
transistors ! And by the way there is also the OCxx family ...

I think the OCs may have been earlier as there was an OC71 small signal
device and an
OC35 and/or36 ? power (35W?) device in TO-3 so they weren't distinguishing
them then.

OC71s were painted with black paint over a glass tube and it was popular
for hobbyists
to scrath the paint off to make a photo-transistor. The AC's above were in
a metal can
to prevent such tomfoolery ! And I vaguely remember some AD161/162 TO-66
complementary
output pair. Hah ! Pd = 6W !
http://en.marketgid.com/goods/1450/9849/

Tj max 90C !

Graham

Transistors like the AC126 were just displacing the older OC types back in
the days when I had to save up 2 weeks pocket money for a single AC126.