Demonstration of the First Working Integrated Circuit
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The twentieth-century age of electronics can trace its roots to the 1906 invention of the triode vacuum tube, which marked the birth of modern radio. The invention of the transistor after World War II ushered in a new era of solid-state electronics. As engineers designed increasingly complex equipment, the difficulty of interconnecting large numbers of individual transistors and other components to form electronic circuits was a barrier to further progress. The need arose for a reliable, cost-effective way to produce and interconnect the components. Technical research groups in the United States and abroad began work on the problem. In 1958, Jack St. Clair Kilby, an engineer at Texas Instruments (TI) in Dallas, designed and built an integrated circuit with all the components formed in a single piece of semiconductor material. On September 12, 1958, he demonstrated this first working integrated circuit to TI personnel in the semiconductor building on this site. This conceptual breakthrough and work elsewhere led to development of the microchips that are at the core of modern electronic products, including a broad range of consumer electronics, digital computers, defense systems, and global communications networks.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
For decades, engineers struggled to interconnect the growing tangle of transistors and components that made up modern electronics — a "tyranny of numbers" that threatened progress. In 1958, Texas Instruments engineer Jack St. Clair Kilby solved it by forming all the components of a circuit within a single piece of semiconductor material. On September 12, 1958, he demonstrated the first working integrated circuit to colleagues on this site.
Why it matters
Kilby's breakthrough gave birth to the microchip, the foundation of virtually every computer, phone, and digital device in the modern world.
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Related people
- · Jack St. Clair Kilby
Related events
- · Demonstration of the first integrated circuit, 1958
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