Plessey Company plc

The Plessey Company plc (also known as The Plessey Company Ltd) was a British electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after World War II by acquisition of companies and formed overseas companies. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

In 1951, the Electronics Division started at Ilford and in 1955 the Electronics and Equipment Group was established. Around circa 1961, The Plessey Company set up four other businesses: Telecommunications Division, Plessey Avionics and Communications, Plessey Radar (Weybridge) and Plessey Marine. In 1988, Plessey and The General Electric Company (GEC) merged their telecom units to form GEC-Plessey Telecommunications (GPT), with the ownership then split with Siemens AG in 1989.

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This archive contains material created or accumulated by Peter J W Noble MBE during his career as an Electronic Engineer and Physicist working for Associated Electrical Industries Ltd and the Plessey Company Ltd. Some items dated from 1968 onwards cover Noble's time as Managing Director of Integrated Photomatrix Ltd. The archive reflects the research and processes which led to the creation of the solid-state image sensor, now known as the 'active pixel' image sensor. It contains research papers, reports and patents (1959-c1975), journals and newspapers (1961-1974), company information sheets and technical details (1970-1974), photographs of chips, components and received awards (c1966 - 1974) and a typed history written by Noble which summarises his work and career (2018)

The Peter J W Noble Active Pixel Archive
Research papers and reports produced by Plessey Company Ltd or by individuals working on behalf of Plessey Company Ltd

Research Papers and Reports produced by Plessey Company Ltd
A series of journals, photocopy journal excerpts and journal reprints containing articles written by Peter J W Noble between 1962-1970, some of which were written during his time working at Associated Electrical Industries Ltd and Plessey Company Ltd

Journals and Journal Excerpts with articles by Peter J W Noble
A series of photographs showing Integrated Photomatrix Ltd receiving the Queen's Award for Technology in 1974 (photographer Evan Jones), plus a variety of chips and circuits produced by Peter J W Noble and team whilst working at the Plessey Company Ltd

Photographs
A series of typescript and manuscript research papers and reports produced solely by Peter J W Noble or in conjunction with other individuals during Noble's employment at Associated Electrical Industries Ltd (AEI) and Plessey Company Ltd. The series also includes some papers and reports used by Noble for research purposes and two patent specifications produced whilst at Associated Electrical Industries Ltd; one authored by James Dyson and one by Noble and James Dyson

Research Papers, Reports and Patents
A selection of company information sheets and technical data forms produced by the Plessey Company Ltd, Reticon Corporation, Fairchild Semiconductor and Integrated Photomatrix Ltd

Company Information Sheets and Technical Details
A series of journals, photocopy journal excerpts and journal reprints containing articles written by Peter J W Noble or used by Peter J W Noble for research purposes. Also includes artitcles written by or on behalf of Associated Electrical Industries Ltd. Journals include 'Component Technology', 'Electronics and Communications', 'Microelectronics', ‘IEEE Transactions on Electronic Devices’, ‘IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits’, 'Proceedings of the IEEE', 'The Radio and Electronic Engineer' and 'Electronics.' Also contains newspaper cuttings and industry newspapers reporting the activities of the Plessey Company Ltd or containing articles written by Peter J W Noble. One cutting from an unknown newspaper shows a photograph of Integrated Photomatrix Ltd receiving the Queen's Award for Technology in 1974

Journals and Newspapers
Typescript annual research report covering the dates November 1967 - October 1968, outlining a study for developing arrays of photosensitive detectors with integral scanning on a silicon substrate. The report shows that a 100 x 100 photodiode detector is practicable and, with cooling, radiation could be detected. An analysis for the photodiode sensitivity is given. Produced by Plessey Company Ltd with P J W Noble written in ink in the top right corner

Annual research report: "Solid State Imaging at Low Light Levels"
Photocopy typescript paper with minor annotations produced by Sir Derek Harry Roberts on behalf of Plessey Company Ltd

"Silicon Device Technology: Invited Paper to be given at Conference on Solid State Devices, Manchester, September 1967" by D H Roberts
Photocopy of an article from 'Electronics and Communications' written by Peter Noble on behalf of the Plessey Company Ltd

Photocopy journal article: "Photodiodes in integrated circuits have integrating and logic applications" by Peter J W Noble
A black and white photograph of a solid state image detector with 100 pixels sitting within its encapsulation. The centre area is the photocell array containing a 10 x 10 matrix with an array of MOST devices. Around the periphery of the chip is the scanning circuitry which is two ring counters and around the outer edge is the encapsulation. The central array is 0.04 x 0.04 inches and the total chip is 0.1 x 0.1 inches

Photograph showing a 10 x 10 array of pixels as a chip in its encapsulation

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