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Background, Perspective & 3 Time Periods Covered from 1957-1975
Alan provides context for the session and introduces the 3 distinct time periods to be covered during the panel. 1. 1957-62 Transistor and discrete components (pre-IC period) 2. 1962-68 IC period: SSI, MSI 3. 1968-75 LSI period: Semiconductor memories, microprocessors, consumer electronics, LED displays, etc. To start the discussion Bernie is asked to elaborate on…
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Rheem Semiconductor
Bernie Marren discusses Rheem, an early semiconductor company acquired by Raytheon. Read more about this session at: http://sites.ieee.org/sv-techhist/?p=344 [Thanks to Tom Gardner for the above description.]
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Bernie discusses his move from AVCO in Detroit to Minneapolis & Fairchild Sales
Bernie Marren talks about his move from working with nuclear weapon fuses to selling a semiconductor product that Fairchild wouldn’t describe to him and that didn’t work.
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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 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…
