integrated circuit

integrated circuit definition - computer

The formal name for the chip. In 1958, Texas Instruments inventor Jack Kilby demonstrated the first electronic circuit in which more than one transistor was fabricated on a single piece of semiconductor material. See chip.


_TI_IC.GIF


The First Integrated Circuit

About a half inch wide, this archaic-looking collection of two transistors mounted on a bar of germanium was nonetheless the first integrated circuit. It was demonstrated by TI on September 12, 1958. (Image courtesy of Texas Instruments, Inc.)





_TI_IC2.GIF


A Few More Transistors

This integrated circuit from TI was made in the early 1960s. Notice how much more intricate it was than the first IC in the image above. (Image courtesy of The Computer History Museum, www.computerhistory.org)






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