The Texas Instruments SN51 Series - The First Integrated Circuits

About this Artwork

This artwork is a mixed-media display celebrating the Texas Instruments SN51 Series. Introduced in the early 1960s, the Integrated Circuit changed the world. The vacuum tube and the transistor enabled huge leaps in the advancement of technology and science. However, neither has matched the firestorm of advances kindled by the Integrated Circuit. The density and power of Integrated Circuit has almost doubled every two years since its invention by Jack Kilby (of Texas Instruments) and Robert Noyce (of Fairchild Semiconductor, and later Intel). The SN51 Integrated Circuits were the first commercially available chips. They had the equivalent of just a handful of transistors, capacitors, and resistors, but the Integrated Circuit packed them in a far smaller and more efficient package. The SN514, to the right and pictured above, provided two complete 3-input NOR/NAND logic circuits on a single chip. Also, the SN514 was one of two chips used in the Interplanetary Monitoring Probe (IMP) satellite. Launched in 1963, they were the first Integrated Circuits to orbit the Earth.

This artwork includes three major elements. It has a large image of a TI SN514 chip. On the back is a back story describing the artwork, and the SN514, and the artist’s signature. Also included is a fully functional chip TI SN514 chip in a gold flat pack. An enlarged diagram of the chip with the electrical signal designations for each of its leads is included.

Framing: 

The artwork is framed in an 11"x14" black shadow box frame, with glass. All framing materials are acid-free. A narrative about the artwork that includes the artist’s signature is placed on the back of the artwork.

Please note:  The look of the artifacts in the artworks may vary; each piece is unique.