Heinrich Johann Welker | |
|---|---|
 Welker in 1970 | |
| Born | September 12, 1912 |
| Died | December 25, 1981 (aged 69) |
| Alma mater | University of Munich |
| Known for | JFET Point contact transistor III-V compound semiconductors |
| Awards | James C. McGroddy Prize (1975) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Siemens-Schuckert Westinghouse Electric Corporation |
| Doctoral advisor | Arnold Sommerfeld |
Heinrich Johann Welker (9 September 1912 in Ingolstadt – 25 December 1981 in Erlangen) was a German theoretical and applied physicist who invented the "transistron", a transistor made at Westinghouse independently of the first successful transistor made at Bell Laboratories. He did fundamental work in III-V compound semiconductors, and paved the way for microwave semiconductor elements and laser diodes.