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Ted Hoff Discusses the Early Days of the IC Business
Ted Hoff explains why 1959 was a key year for semiconductors. The Planar Process, invented by Jean Hoerni, produced gradients that made for faster transistors (switching) and better base thickness control. David Laws adds that the planar process saved Fairchild in more ways than one as they had trouble with the earlier Mesa transistors. It…
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The Founder of Intersil
Double PhD & brilliant scientist Jean Hoerni was not only the inventor of the planar process at Fairchild (the basis of the integrated circuit), but also an entrepreneur. In 1964, he founded Union Carbide Electronics and in 1967 Intersil. Yet Hoerni had difficulty recruiting & retaining people at the companies he founded, because he was…
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Early Semiconductor Applications
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The Semiconductor Companies in Silicon Valley in the mid-1960s
The panelists discuss the prominent semiconductor companies in Santa Clara Valley from 1962-68. Amelco was one of the early spin-outs from Fairchild. Others included: AMI, General Microelectronics, Melectro (a Fairchild spin-off bought by National Semiconductor), and Signetics (another Fairchild spin-off) which was owned by Corning Glass. Ted Hoff said Rex Rice of Fairchild told him…
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What About Analog Applications?
Alan asked the panelists to comment on the status of analog ICs in the 1962-68 time period. Bernie said that Bob Wilder of Fairchild solved a problem for Zenith TVs by designing a solid state chroma demodulator that looked like a vacuum tube. David said that Wilder’s operational amplifier (“op-amp”), which was incrementally improved over…
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A Silicon Valley Legend – Jerry Sanders
David Laws relates how the unconventional but successful Jerry Sanders raised money for the founding of AMD. AMD sold 2nd-source products which were better and more reliable. [Thanks to Francine Bellson for the above description.]