Silicon integrated digital circuits packaged in 8-lead transistor cans are being sampled by Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., Mountain View, Calif. The techniques used by Fairchild for these Micrologic building blocks are similar to those applied on the TI Solid Circuit approach, but the marketing concept is much different. By packaging in TO-5 and TO-18 cans, which will soon be halved in height, the company hopes to attract more designer interest be-cause of adaptability to present packaging methods.
Present samples, using thermal compression bonded, fine-wire connections between active areas, do not represent the commercial product, Fairchild says. The commercial version will have vacuum-deposited thin-film interconnections inside the packages—a much cheaper solution than thermal compression bonding because all connections can be deposited at once. Average power dissipation for the blocks is 30 mw, speed is over 1 mc, and temperature range is from −55 to +125 C. (Electronic Design, Nov. 9, 1960, p. 80)
This is Fairchild's first IC. The Micrologic family used resistor-transistor logic (RTL) circuitry. The article is a little understated in its compliments for Fairchild, saying that the only difference is in the company's marketing concept. Although TI was first on the market with ICs, Fairchild deserves strong praise for the development of the planar process and the use of evaporated metal interconnections.
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