KEY STEPS TO THE INTEGRATED-CIRCUIT

This paper traces the key steps that led to the invention of the integ rated circuit (IC). The first part of this paper reviews the steady im provements in the performance and fabrication of single transistors in the decade after the Bell labs breakthrough work in 1947. It sketches the various developments needed to produce a practical IC. Some of th e discoveries and developments discussed in the previous paper (''The Foundation of the Silicon Age'' by Ian M. Ross) are briefly reviewed h ere to show how they fit on the critical path to the invention of the IC. In addition, the more advanced processes such as diffusion, oxide masking, photolithography, and epitaxy, which culminated in the planar process, are summarized. The early growth of the IC business is touch ed upon, along with a brief statement on the future limits of silicon IC technology. The second part of this paper sketches the various prob lems associated with the quality and reliability of this technology. T he highlights of the semiconductor reliability story are reviewed from the early days of germanium and silicon transistors to the current me tal-oxide semiconductor IC products. Also described are some of the pr ocess, packaging, and alpha particle problems that were encountered an d solved before arriving at today's semiconductor products.