Semiconductor

1952
   • TI buys Western Electric transistor license; enters semiconductor realm

1953
   • SC Products division established

1954
   • TI introduces first commercial silicon transistor
   • First germanium high-frequency transistors produced
   • Regency Radio debuts, first commercial mass-produced transistor product

1956
   • Grown-diffused transistors developed

1957
   • First silicon high-power transistors produced
   • First SC distributor sales program launched

1958
   • Integrated circuit invented by Jack Kilby
   • Explorer, first U.S. orbiting satellite, contains TI transistors
   • Diffused-base transistor process developed
   • Centralized Automatic Tester (CAT) transistor-testing machine produced

1959
   • First commercial integrated circuit – Solid Circuits™ – produced
   • First Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) solar cells produced

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1962
   • Series 52 ICs produced, linear circuits IC family

1964
   • First plastic packaging of integrated circuits
   • TI-Kote™ silicon carbide coating developed
   • Series 54/74 Transistor-Transistor-Logic (TTL) ICs introduced
   • Zenith demonstrates hearing aid, first use of TI IC in consumer device

1967
   • Manufacturing transitions from 1.25” to 2.0” wafers
   • TI533 IC tester put into operation
   • TIVICON camera tube developed
   • Discretionary wiring large-scale integration process developed

1968
   • TI’s first Metal-On-Silicon (MOS) circuits produced
   • ECL integrated circuits produced
   • Single-diffused SC process developed

1969
   • Thermocompression bonding process developed
   • Large Scale Integration (LSI) designs introduced
   • Memory arrays developed
   • APOLLO Lunar Exploration Module contains TI components

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1972
   • ABACUS II integrated circuit wire bonder developed

1973
   • 4K dynamic random access memory (DRAM) IC developed

1974
   • TMS1000 single-chip microcomputer (microcontroller) released

1975
   • TMS9900 16-bit microprocessor chip released
   • First Integrated Injection Logic (I²L) put into use
   • First single-transistor memory cell produced
   • E-Beam lithography program launched
   • First Programmable Logic Array developed

1976
   • First applications libraries for microprocessors developed

1977
   • 16K dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip released
   • Production begins of magnetic bubble memory chips
   • 16K electrically-programmed read-only memory (EPROM) chip released
   • 4K static random access memory (SRAM) chip released
   • DARPA job yields metallic membrane, Digital Micromirror Device precursor

1978
   • Single-chip speech synthesizer debuts in TI Speak & Spell™
   • 256K bubble memory chips produced
   • 64K 5 volt-only DRAM chip released
   • 16K static random access memory (SRAM) chip produced
   • 32K EPROM chip released
   • Etched leadframe IDEA technology developed

1979
   • Production begins of 64K dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip
   • Series 54/74AS ICs – Advanced Schottky logic family – produced
   • Series 54ALS ICs – Advanced low-power Schottky logic family – produced
   • Microcomputer/module business launched
   • Solar Energy technology developed

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1981
   • TMS7000 8-bit microprocessor chip announced
   • 64K dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip enters full production
   • Charge-coupled device imagers (CCDs) delivered for space telescope
   • First 128 x 128 digital micromirror device (DMD) developed

1982
   • Single-chip digital signal processor (DSP) announced
   • Charge-coupled device imagers (CCDs) delivered for Galileo Mission

1984
   • Manufacturing transitions to 6” wafers
   • Complementary metal-on-silicon (CMOS) gate arrays developed with Fujitsu
   • First business secured for programmable logic array technology
   • 32000-series microprocessor chip developed with National Semiconductor
   • Standard cell semi-custom ICs developed
   • First Multiport video RAM chip produced
   • First DMD (digital micromirror device)-based printer produced

1985
   • Production begins of 256K dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips
   • Chips developed using 4MB DRAM trench cell
   • List Processing (LISP) chip developed for AI applications

1986
   • First 32-bit graphics DSP developed
   • 1-micron complementary (CMOS) gate arrays developed
   • Production begins of 1MB DRAM chips
   • Series 74HC ICs – CMOS logic family – produced

1988
   • First 4MB dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) devices sampled
   • TI and Hitachi sign 16MB DRAM joint development agreement
   • First hybrid silicon and gallium arsenide IC demonstrated
   • Fabrication of first quantum-effect transistor announced
   • First digital DMD produced
   • TI-RFID introduced for Automatic Rapid Frequency Identification

1989
   • Microelectronics Manufacturing Science Technology (MMST) contract won
   • Implantable TIRIS™ transporter introduced

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1991
   • 4MB DRAM chip enters volume production
   • SuperSPARC™ reduced-instruction set computing (RISC) chip produced
   • First light-emitting diode (LED) CMOS and GaAs chip demonstrated

1992
   • TI 486 microprocessor chip released
   • MicroSPARC™ single-chip processor introduced
   • First large-screen color DMD projector demonstrated
   • TIRIS read/write transponder debuts

1993
   • Three-day IC manufacturing process demonstrated as part of MMST contract
   • TI and Hitachi announce agreement for joint development of 256MB DRAM
   • First room-temperature quantum-effect IC demonstrated
   • First high-resolution DMD projection demonstrated

1994
   • Multimedia video processor chip introduced with DSP-RISC architectures
   • TI, Hitachi announce TwinStar JV for advanced chip manufacturing
   • 1394 serial bus wins “Most Significant Technology” award at Fall COMDEX
   • TI-RFID vehicle immobilizer developed

1995
   • Micro-dominant business units deployed
   • TMS320C54x™ DSP chip family launched
   • Dr. Hornbeck, DMD™ inventor, receives Eduard Rhein Award

1996
   • First chip scale package, MicroStar Ball Grid Array, completed

1997
   • TMS320C6x, first VLIW DSP, introduced with 1 GFLOPS performance
   • Kilby Center dedicated, new $150 million R&D facility
   • TI inventors Hornbeck, Nelson receive Rank Prize Funds award for DMD™
   • First 56-Kbit modem from 3COM uses TI DSP solution
   • ANAM foundry operation begins production using ‘C10 technology
   • Power Trends subsidiary supplies electronics for Mars Pathfinder mission
   • Mobil Oil selects TIRIS for use in Speed Pass pay-at-pump transactions

1998
   • SC business establishes six new vertical business units
   • World’s highest performance floating-point DSP, TMS320C6701, introduced
   • DLP™ technology and inventor Larry Hornbeck receive Emmy awards
   • Bond-Over-Active Circuits and Bond-Over-ESD technology introduced
   • TIRIS announces Tag-It™ SMART label technology

1999
   • Two more vertical business units established
   • eXpressDSP™ Realtime Software technology released
   • First DSP-based printer solution – xStream DSP technology – introduced
   • First DSP-optimized analog-to-digital converter, THS1206, introduced
   • DSP-based solution provides secure downloading to portable devices
   • Nokia, Ericsson select Open Multimedia Application Platform (OMAP™)
   • “Star Wars: Phantom Menace” premiers in DLP Cinema™
   • Hitachi & TI joint agreement announced to develop HDTV
   • Disney’s “Tarzan” is first movie without film-to-digital transfer
   • Tag-It™ SMART label low-cost RFID Transponder introduced

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2001
   • Palm Computer uses TI Portable Power Management devices
   • First 300mm full flow silicon manufacturing begins
   • Sun-UltraSPARC III - Copper process launched

2002
   • 90-nanometer CMOS process announced
   • First single-chip Bluetooth® device made with TI digital RF architecture
   • 130-nanometer technology qualified for production on 300mm wafers
   • BiCOMIII introduced, first SiGe process with NPN and PNP transistors
   • First 64-megabit ferroelectric RAM (FRAM) test chip produced

2003
   • High-performance 14-bit, 124-MSPS analog-to-digital converter announced
   • First 90-nanometer samples delivered - phone call on 90nm silicon
   • First single-chip ADSL integrating 12-volt line driver announced
   • Cisco Supplier of the Year award honors TI ASIC business
   • 15th anniversary of TI-Sun Microsystems relationship celebrated
   • Single electron transistor research presented
   • First CDMA chipset announced
   • WANDA announced, a PDA design integrating three wireless technologies
   • Automotive passive entry system using an RFID-enabled key created

2004
   • First single-chip cell phone device shipped
   • Strained silicon process announced, increases electron and hole mobility
   • 65-nanometer CMOS process announced
   • 1GHz DSP announced, the first and fastest in the industry
   • OMAP™ 2 architecture announced
   • Capability for TV broadcast on cell phones announced
   • DLP™ TVs outsell plasma in North America for large-screen TVs
   • 90-nanometer technology qualified for production on 300mm wafers

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