Monolithic silicon integrated circuit (Noyce)

What it is

Integrated circuit on silicon with components isolated and interconnected by aluminium tracks deposited on the oxide, following the planar process. It is the design from which all modern chips descend.

Priority dispute with Kilby (TI, 1958); settled in practice by cross-licensing in 1966.

What it led to

• Mass chip manufacturing and the exponential cheapening of computing
• The founding of Intel (1968) and Silicon Valley's start-up culture
• Global strategic dependence on the semiconductor supply chain

Built on

• Czochralski method of single-crystal growth1916
• Integrated circuit (Kilby)1958
• Planar process1959
• Kilby's integrated circuit

Made possible

• Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM)1966
• Microprocessor (Intel 4004)1971
• Pure-play semiconductor foundry model1987
• DRAM memory
• Apollo Guidance Computer

Links

Sources✓ verified 2026-09-25

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Noyce