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The company was incorporated as an AT&T subsidiary under the name Bell Telephone Laboratories
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AT&T’s Development and Research Department, which was devoted to bridging the gap between operations of communication systems and laboratory research, was soon integrated into Bell Laboratories. As engineers from development departments were also folded into Bell Laboratories, the company grew.
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Clinton Davisson for discovering that electrons diffract like lightwaves
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John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, William B. Shockley for inventing the transistor
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Philip W. Anderson for his study of disordered materials
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Arno Penzias and Robert W. Wilson for discovering the cosmic microwave background radiation
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In consequence of a divestiture agreement with the U.S. Government, AT&T Corporation divested the company of its local exchange companies and ceased Bell System. As part of the divestiture agreement, AT&T Technologies assumed the business of Western Electric and Bell Laboratories and thousands of Bell Laboratories employees were split off to form Bellcore.
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In 1996–97 AT&T split into three companies; Lucent Technologies Inc., which was a manufacturer of telephone and other communications equipment. The majority of Bell Laboratories’ employees became part of Lucent, but a minority stayed with AT&T, which thenceforth confined itself to telephone and other services.
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Steven Chu for his research in cooling and trapping atoms using laser light
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Horst L. Störmer, Robert B. Laughlin, and Daniel C. Tsuifor discovering the fractional quantum Hall effect
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Willard Boyle and George E. Smithfor inventing the charge-coupled device (CCD)
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Bell Labs and the former Nokia FutureWorks organization merged forces to create a greater Bell Labs, covering even more countries, and still retaining the same mission that has lasted throughout the 90+ years, to solve the great 10x industry challenges and produce disruptive innovations that improve the quality of life.