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The Invention of the Integrated Circuit: Jean Hoerni's Patent Notebook
This week marks 65 years since Jean Hoerni applied for a patent for his 'planar process' a key step towards the creation of the modern monolithic integrated circuit.
A crucial earlier step in the creation of the monolithic integrated circuit was the development of the ‘planar process’ for manufacturing transistors by Jean Hoerni, a physicist colleague of Noyce’s at Fairchild. Another advantage of planar structures is that they are the natural first step in any integrated approach where several elements, transistors or diodes, are built simultaneously on the same piece of semiconductor. He carried on thinking about it and soon contributed his own crucial idea: to add a layer of metal connecting the transistors as an additional stage in the manufacturing process.
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