Description of the first IC

Question

I wonder what is the description of the first IC made by Kilby. The famous picture is shown in many websites, but I want to know what it is?!

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Jan 14 '17 at 12:28

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I believe it is a phase-shift oscillator that worked at about 1.3 MHz. Kilby first demonstrated a flip-flop built entirely with semiconductor elements, but it was not a monolithic part—it was assembled from individual elements.

The first IC was a phase-shift oscillator. From Kilby's own account:

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edited Jan 14 '17 at 12:28

Community

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answered Jan 13 '17 at 19:53

Spehro Pefhany

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I believe you mean Kilby, not Kirby. – Jeffrey Nichols Jan 13 '17 at 22:52
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Indeed... This is Jack Kilby and this is Nintendo's Kirby. – haneefmubarak Jan 14 '17 at 03:07
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@haneefmubarak ...though a noteworthy Jack Kirby does also exist. – ssokolow Jan 14 '17 at 05:53

LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike · Answer 2 · 2017-01-13T20:06:33.570

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The history of Kilby's ICs can be found here.

The IC is a phase-shift oscillator. Excerpts (emphasis mine):

He sketched in his notebook the complete circuit of a phase-shift oscillator on a bar of germanium.

Within two weeks, the first three oscillators were completed and ready to test. What TI managers saw on that historic day of September 12, 1958, was a tiny bar of germanium, measuring 7/16-x1/16-inches, with protruding wires, glued to a glass slide. It was a rough device by anyone's standards. But when Kilby applied the voltage, an unending sine wave undulated across the oscilloscope screen.

Here is another, more general account of that story.

edited Jan 13 '17 at 20:06

answered Jan 13 '17 at 19:46

LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike

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That was a quick edit. ;-) – Spehro Pefhany Jan 13 '17 at 19:54
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@SpehroPefhany Yep! Sorry, I highlighted and read the wrong part, and I realized it too late! :-) – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike Jan 13 '17 at 20:00

Description of the first IC

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