Origins of VLSI

Origins of VLSI

Much development motivated by WWII need for improved electronics, especially for radar

* 1940 - Russell Ohl (Bell Laboratories) - first pn junction

* 1948 - Shockley, Bardeen, Brattain (Bell Laboratories) - first transistor

* 1956 Nobel Physics Prize

* Late 1950s - purification of Si advances to acceptable levels for use in electronics

* 1958 - Seymour Cray (Control Data Corporation) - first transistorized computer - CDC 1604

* 1959 - Jack St. Claire Kilby (Texas Instruments) - first integrated circuit - 10 components on 9 mm2

* 1959 - Robert Norton Noyce (founder, Fairchild Semiconductor) - improved integrated circuit

* 1968 - Noyce, Gordon E. Moore found Intel

* 1971 - Ted Hoff (Intel) - first microprocessor (4004) - 2300 transistors on 9 mm2

Since then - continued improvement in technology has allowed for increased performance as predicted by Moore’s Law