domingo, 25 de julio de 2010

Silicon rectifiers and Silicon power transistors

In 1957 the production quantity of US transistor has reached 30 millions, compared to 0.6 million at 1952, similar to tube production quantity at 1952. Actually the semiconductor progress of first 10 years is more than the tube progress of first 25 years, said by Kelly of Bell Lab. Transistor has been used everywhere, and the growth of complex electronics system, such as computer, telephone switching system and space/military applications pushing transistor to more integrating form---solid circuits(later name as integrated circuit) prototype in 1958 by Kilby of TI, but it is germanium. All the practical integrated circuits are manufactured by silicon planar technology, which is after Noyce of Fairchild in 1959. This story is just like true transistor(junction type) invented in 1949 not point-contact transistor invented on December 1947.

In 1958 Fairchild marketed their first silicon diffusion mesa transistors to RCA, and then planar transistor in 1959. In early 1960s the epitaxial growth technology is invented. The planar silicon dioxide passivated and epitaxial growth manufacturing processes are the same as silicon diffusion technology as the foundations of modern solid state device. The other important semiconductor manufacturing process---ion implantation(can give the most precise control of impurity profile) is practical in 1970s.

With excellent semiconductor manufacturing technology the old(1945) idea of FET successful fabricated in 1961 at Fairchild, and it is MOSFET used in any large scale IC. But MOS IC was not really took off until late 1960s, all 1960s are still bipolar IC territory. The DIP apckage is introduced by Fairchild in 1965, soon adopted by other semicondcutor companies, the plastic package for all other semiconductors also.

In 1967 Sporck, general manager of Fairchild resigned and take four key man to reorganize National Semicondcutor(founded at Connecticut in 1959 and moved to silicon valley in 1968)---famous for complete pheripheral IC line. In 1968 Noyce, R&D manager of Fairchild, Moore and Grove founded Intel---now it is the world's largest chip manufacturer, famous for complete processor lines(actually also famous for memory in the 1970s, but can not compete with asian semiconductor companies after 1980s, and also famous for network chipset.). In 1969 Sanders, market director of Fairchild and transferred from Motorola one year ago, took seven colleagues to form AMD, also famous for processor, memory and network chipset---strong competitor of Intel. In 1966 and 1967 there are three chip companies formed each, in 1968 there are 13 companies, in 1969 another 8 companies formed in Santa Clara Valley---that is the name of Silicon Valley come from.

In March 1961 Fairchild sold several kinds of IC to NASA. At the same time TI showed off midget computer made from 587 IC for computer of Air Force, which is only 1/150 volume and 1/50 weight of the same function transistor computer, which use 8,500 discrete solid state components. In this May President J. F. Kennedy announced that US will send a man to moon by the end of this decade, this aim has been fulfiled successfully but he can not see it by himself. This is only possible by IC which save a lot of space, weight and power. In 1962 the first communication satellite---Telstar, it's also impossible without IC, opening the satellite communication era. In 1964 Fairchild made the first linear IC---µA702, and then popular µA709 in 1965 and more popular µA741 in 1968, all are from Fairchild Semiconductor and all OP AMP IC---basic of all analog circuits.
Asignatura: EES

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