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Blast from the Past – How Integrated Circuits (chips) Work

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The following video takes us back to Fairchild Semiconductors in 1967, as the age of integrated circuits is getting underway. It is talking about integrated circuits that contain 20 components (transistors, resistors, etc.), and therefore are far simpler than the billion-transistor chips we see today. It is also an era when the masks used to make the chips could be drawn by hand. The video shows the masks and how they are used:

The video also shows where the silicon wafers come from, and how these wafers become chips. By the 20 minute point, it is talking about how chips are used to create computers. It even contains a couple of vintage commercials.

If you have every wondered how silicon chips work, and how they are made in their simplest form, it’s a great video.

[[[Jump to previous BFTP - How they built the Hoover Dam]]]

See also:
- Understanding how the world’s first transistor works
- reverse engineering the 6502 microprocessor
- How Transistors Work
- How Microprocessors Work

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