Alexander M. Nicholson was an American scientist, most notable for inventing the first

crystal oscillator A crystal oscillator is an electronic oscillator Electrical circuit, circuit that uses a piezoelectricity, piezoelectric crystal as a frequency selective surface, frequency-selective element. The oscillator frequency is often used to keep trac ...

, using a piece of Rochelle salt in 1917 while working at

Bell Telephone Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

. He then filed a patent the next year.Nicholson, Alexander M. ''Generating and transmitting electric currents'' , filed April 10, 1918, granted August 27, 1940 His priority was later disputed by Walter Guyton Cady who invented the first quartz crystal oscillator in 1921.

References

American inventors Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{US-inventor-stub