RCA-ERSO integrated-circuit technology transfer
Transferencia de tecnología RCA-ERSO de circuitos integrados
- Date
- 1976-1977 · confidence high
- Place
- Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Credited to
- ITRI/ERSO (Taiwan) and RCA (United States)
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What was discovered
An agreement by which RCA trained about 19 Taiwanese ERSO engineers in CMOS integrated-circuit technology at Princeton, giving rise in 1977 to a pilot fab in Hsinchu. It was the origin of Taiwan's semiconductor industry.
The agreement was signed in 1976 and the pilot fab began producing in 1977; the details (19 engineers) vary somewhat between sources. RCA was by then a declining company in the sector.
What it led to
- the company UMC (1980) as ERSO's first spin-off
- TSMC (1987) with engineers trained in that programme
- Taiwan's chip and foundry industry