Jack
St. Clair Kilby, father of the integrated circuit, received the Nobel
Prize in Physics during an awards ceremony held December 10 in Stockholm,
Sweden. The retired Texas Instruments legend shared the prize with theoretical
physicists Zhores Alferov and Herbert Kroemer, who were lauded for their
work on the theory of semiconductor heterostructures. Kilby is credited
with coinventing the IC with the late Robert Noyce, who successfully constructed
another version of the now-ubiquitous circuit-on-a-chip at Fairchild Semiconductor
a few months after Kilby flicked the switch in his TI lab in September
1958. The photos show Kilby getting his Nobel from Carl XVI Gustaf, King
of Sweden (above); the original gizmo he created, a 7/16 x
1/16-in. IC consisting of a transistor and few odd components
on a germanium slice (below); and Kilby in his younger days (below right).
Here are a few excerpts from Kilby's Nobel Laureate lecture, "Turning
Potential into Realities: The Invention of the Integrated Circuit," delivered
at Stockholm University on December 8: "The field of electronics had strong
potential when I invented the integrated circuit in 1958. The reality
of what people have done with integrated circuits has gone far beyond
what anyone—including myself—imagined possible at the time.
Charles Townes won the Nobel for his work with laser technology, and he
summed up how I feel. Townes
said: 'It's like the beaver told the rabbit as they stared at the Hoover
Dam. "No, I didn't build it myself. But it's based on an idea of mine
. . . ."' Although I do not consider myself responsible for all the activity
that has followed, it has been very satisfying to witness the integrated
circuit's evolution. I am pleased to have had even a small part in helping
turn the potential of human creativity into practical reality."
Jack
St. Clair Kilby, father of the integrated circuit, received the Nobel
Prize in Physics during an awards ceremony held December 10 in Stockholm,
Sweden. The retired Texas Instruments legend shared the prize with theoretical
physicists Zhores Alferov and Herbert Kroemer, who were lauded for their
work on the theory of semiconductor heterostructures. Kilby is credited
with coinventing the IC with the late Robert Noyce, who successfully constructed
another version of the now-ubiquitous circuit-on-a-chip at Fairchild Semiconductor
a few months after Kilby flicked the switch in his TI lab in September
1958. The photos show Kilby getting his Nobel from Carl XVI Gustaf, King
of Sweden (above); the original gizmo he created, a 7/16 x
1/16-in. IC consisting of a transistor and few odd components
on a germanium slice (below); and Kilby in his younger days (below right).
Here are a few excerpts from Kilby's Nobel Laureate lecture, "Turning
Potential into Realities: The Invention of the Integrated Circuit," delivered
at Stockholm University on December 8: "The field of electronics had strong
potential when I invented the integrated circuit in 1958. The reality
of what people have done with integrated circuits has gone far beyond
what anyone—including myself—imagined possible at the time.
Charles Townes won the Nobel for his work with laser technology, and he
summed up how I feel. 
Townes
said: 'It's like the beaver told the rabbit as they stared at the Hoover
Dam. "No, I didn't build it myself. But it's based on an idea of mine
. . . ."' Although I do not consider myself responsible for all the activity
that has followed, it has been very satisfying to witness the integrated
circuit's evolution. I am pleased to have had even a small part in helping
turn the potential of human creativity into practical reality."
