September 12, 1958
Kilby demonstrates first IC
Jack Kilby demonstrated the first integrated circuitA chip miniaturizing many electronic components on one semiconductor — the building block of modern electronics. at Texas Instruments on September 12, 1958 — building an oscillator on a germanium chip.
What it was for
Kilby's hybrid IC proved multiple components could share one semiconductorA material whose conductivity can be controlled — silicon semiconductors are the basis of almost all computer chips. substrate — the foundation of modern microchips. He shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention.
People
- Jack Kilby — researcher
Why it's here
Kilby's demo was the first working integrated circuitA chip miniaturizing many electronic components on one semiconductor — the building block of modern electronics..
Why it mattered
It launched the path from discrete transistors to single-chip systems.
What it solved
Wiring individual components was too large, slow, and unreliable for advanced electronics.
Media
ImageReplica of Kilby's first integrated circuitFlorian Schäffer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons