8) NEC - The Forerunner of the Commercial Semiconductor IC

  
The first domestic commercial semiconductor IC, [μPC1]

Both TI and Fairchild led the way in the commercialization of the IC in the USA, while NEC was the frontrunner in Japan.

NEC started work on IC development in 1961 and its first commercial IC sold from 1963 was a high-frequency, two-stage amplifier called [μPC1].

Due to the application of technologies including isolation of components in the epitaxial wafer, and the technology to diffuse impurities with the liquid-state source, developments were successful, and one engaged personnel commented, “Both the performance and the yields were satisfactory.” The following year, in 1964, the hearing aid amp, [μPC11] was released and sold unexpectedly well.

In regards to the logic circuit, three DTL-family products were announced in mid-1964, and total of eight products including RS flip-flop circuits, half-shift resistors, and half-adders went into production. In August, the first domestically manufactured commercial IC’s were presented at the WESCON show, held in California. The DTL-family circuit was adopted in NEC’s mini-computer prototype, [NEAC1240], which made its way into mass production.
On a side note, in regards to NEC’s IC production output:
1961 - 50
1962 - 11,800
1963 - 4,700
1964 - 13,000
1965 - 30,000
1970 - 39,980,000

The picture above is of the first domestic commercial semiconductor IC, [μPC1].
(Provided by Mr. Toshio Kurosawa)

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“Mr. Shimura’s Essays with Historic Photos”    Semiconductor History Museum of Japan
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