hybrid integrated circuit

hybrid integrated circuit (hybrid IC)

made of germanium

had external wire connections, making it difficult to mass-produce

Fairchild's planar process

The basis for Noyce's monolithic IC was Fairchild's planar process, which allowed integrated circuits to be laid out using the same principles as those of printed circuits.

The planar process was developed by Noyce's colleague Jean Hoerni in early 1959, based on the silicon surface passivation and thermal oxidation processes developed by Mohamed M. Atalla at Bell Labs in the late 1950s.

monolithic integrated circuit (IC) silicon chip

In 1959, Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor invented the monolithic integrated circuit (IC) chip. It was made of silicon, whereas Kilby's chip was made of germanium.

This basis for Noyce's monolithic IC was Fairchild's planar process, which allowed integrated circuits to be laid out using the same principles as those of printed circuits.

IC early commercial use

An early commercial use of integrated circuits (ICs) was the 1965 SDS 92

integrated circuit

sub-1000 transistor integrated circuit technology 1966

HP 2116A one of first 16 bit computers

In November 1966, Hewlett-Packard introduced the 2116A minicomputer, one of the first commercial 16-bit computers. It used CTµL (Complementary Transistor MicroLogic) in integrated circuits from Fairchild Semiconductor.

HP 2115A 16 bit computer

Hewlett-Packard followed the 2116A with similar 16-bit computers, such as the 2115A in 1967

HP 2114A 16 bit computer

Hewlett-Packard followed this with similar 16-bit computers, such as the 2115A in 1967, the 2114A in 1968, and others.

Nova $8,000 computer

- In 1969, Data General introduced the Nova and shipped a total of 50,000 at $8,000 each.

- The popularity of 16-bit computers, such as the Hewlett-Packard 21xx series and the Data General Nova, led the way toward word lengths that were multiples of the 8-bit byte. The Nova was first to employ medium-scale integration (MSI) circuits from Fairchild Semiconductor, with subsequent models using large-scale integrated (LSI) circuits. Also notable was that the entire central processor was contained on one 15-inch printed circuit board.

IBM IC computers

IBM first used ICs in computers for the logic of the System/360 Model 85 shipped in 1969

extensive ICs

IBM made extensive use of ICs in its System/370 which began shipment in 1971

The integrated circuit

- The integrated circuit enabled the development of much smaller computers. The minicomputer was a significant innovation in the 1960s and 1970s.

- It brought computing power to more people, not only through more convenient physical size but also through broadening the computer vendor field.

- Digital Equipment Corporation became the number two computer company behind IBM with their popular PDP and VAX computer systems.

- Smaller, affordable hardware also brought about the development of important new operating systems such as Unix.

microprocessor

- Third generation minicomputers were essentially scaled-down versions of mainframe computers, whereas the fourth generation's origins are fundamentally different.

- The basis of the fourth generation is the microprocessor, a computer processor contained on a single large-scale integration (LSI) MOS integrated circuit chip.

- Microprocessor-based computers were originally very limited in their computational ability and speed and were in no way an attempt to downsize the minicomputer. They were addressing an entirely different market.

- Processing power and storage capacities have grown beyond all recognition since the 1970s, but the underlying technology has remained basically the same of large-scale integration (LSI) or very-large-scale integration (VLSI) microchips, so it is widely regarded that most of today's computers still belong to the fourth generation.

EUV

- Extreme ultraviolet lithography (also known as EUV or EUVL) is a lithography (mainly chip printing/making aka "fabricating") technology using a range of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths, roughly spanning a 2% FWHM bandwidth about 13.5 nm.

- While EUV technology is available for mass production, 53 machines worldwide capable of producing wafers using the technique were delivered during 2018 and 2019, while 201 immersion lithography systems were delivered during the same period.

- Issues that make EUV adoption difficult are tool costs (ASML's EUV scanners can cost up to US$120 Million), tool uptime and stochastic phenomena.

- The latest NXE:3400 tools have been equipped with lower pupil fill capability for better imaging, but this leads to lower productivity due to limited use of the exposure field.

- Several fundamental issues still remain.