MOS Technology, 1963-1974: A Dozen Crucial Years

摘要

A line can be drawn from the Frosch's and Derick's work on silicon dioxide to the MOS (metal-oxide-semiconductor) transistor's dominance of semiconductor technology, but it is neither short nor straight. That line has several discernable segments, first from Frosch and Derick's work, until 1963. In this interval, by and large, no one thought seriously about a metal-oxide-semiconductor as a viable technology in its own right. The second segment runs from 1963, when the combination of integrated circuits and the planar manufacturing process had led people to see MOS transistors as a potentially promising semiconductor technology, until the mid-1970s, at which point the MOS transistor had been established as a commercially successful and sustainable technology. This article will detail that second segment, concentrating on work done by Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation and IBM, and will show that three types of work were crucial during this period: first, research on the chemistry and physics of MOS structures; second, product design and development to create integrated circuits that had some advantages over bipolar technologies; and third, organizational change to create environments where MOS technology could thrive.