Public domain ↗
Fairchild 2N697 Silicon Transistor
- Year
- 1958
- Creator
- Gordon Moore, Jean Hoerni, Robert Noyce, Jay Last, Sheldon Roberts, Julius Blank, Victor Grinich, Eugene Kleiner
- Company
- Fairchild Semiconductor
- Location
- 844 East Charleston Road, Palo Alto, California
Description
The 2N697 is a double-diffused silicon mesa transistor that Fairchild Semiconductor introduced in August 1958. The image is a Fairchild advertisement for the 2N696 and the 2N697 in Electronics magazine of August 15, 1958.
Importance
The first order came from IBM, which needed a transistor to drive the core memory of the B-70 bomber computer. Autonetics then chose the device for the Minuteman missile guidance system. In late 1958, small particles inside the metal package could cause short circuits, and Hoerni's planar process later solved this problem.
Interesting fact
IBM's Federal Systems Division bought the first 100 transistors at $150 each, a total of $15,000.
Sources
- 1958: Silicon Mesa Transistors Enter Commercial Production ↗Computer History Museum, The Silicon Engine
- Fairchild silicon transistors advertisement, Electronics, August 15, 1958 (scan) ↗Wikimedia Commons (scan of Electronics magazine) · 1958-08-15