On this day: First microchip is patented

It was on February 6, 1959 that the world’s first microchip was patented. It was Jack Kilby, an instrument engineer from Texas who created and patented the world’s first integrated circuit. For this invention, he also won the Nobel Prize in Physics on December 10, 2000. It is this invention that revolutionised electronics and made the subsequent invention of phones and laptops possible.

The integrated circuit (IC), often known as a computer chip, is a fundamental building component of modern technology. Physically, it is an analogue or digital circuit with internal links, on a single piece of semiconducting material. 10 years before Kilby’s patent filing, attempts to merge electrical circuits into a single device were made. Finally, in 1959, this became possible.

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While Kilby has the first to patent the term “integrated circuit,” it was Robert Noyce, who later became the co-founder of Intel, who was researching a similar device at the same time. Kilby’s design used flying wires to link numerous transistors, but Noyce came up with the notion of interconnecting via a layer of metal conductors. This is why both the men are independently acknowledged for conceiving the idea, but it is Noyce’s microchip that became more popular.

The significance of the first microchip was not understood initially, so it didn’t get the attention it deserved. It was also quite expensive, but Kilby knew its application in the future of technology would be huge. A microchip cost $32 (approx Rs 2,600 currently) in 1961. But by 1971, the cost had dropped to $1.25 (approx Rs 103 currently) due to the efficiencies of large-scale manufacture. By the year 2000, the cost of a chip was less than a cent.