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Early Small Scale Integrated Circuits
Alan provides background about the 1st ICs- Small Scale Integrated (SSI) circuits – and their lack of noise immunity as a potential problem. Bernie says Fairchild stimulated demand for SSIs by drastically cutting the price. David reaffirms that fact, while calling attention to unreliable plastic packages that had just come out. Ed chimes in that…
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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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11 Government work at Stanford in the early 60s
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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…
