IC Knowledge - History of the Integrated Circuit

1980s

1980 - Modern DSP commercially available [19]
Based on our definition of a "modern" DSP as a single chip, programmable stand-alone solution with parallelism in multiply-add and memory access, the first commercially available DSPs were introduced in 1980 by Lucent and NEC. Earlier parts such as the AMI S2811 in 1978 required a microprocessor for initialization and configuration, and the Intel 2920 in 1979 lacked a multiplier.
1980 - IBM selects Intel 8088 for the PC.

1981 - 150mm silicon wafers introduced [24]
1982 - 256Kbit DRAM
Initially, the 256Kbit DRAM was produced on a dual polysilicon NMOS process requiring 8 to 10 masks and had 2µm minimum features. The resulting product had a 70µm² memory cell size, a die size of approximately 45mm² and sold for around $51 at introduction. Later versions converted to CMOS with 1.5µm features.
1982 - Intel 80286
The 80286 was a major step forward in processor performance while maintaining backward compatibility for software. The 80286 was manufactured in a silicon gate CMOS process with 1.5µm linewidths, 1 polysilicon layer and 2 metal layers, the 80286 had 134,000 transistors, a 6 to 12MHz clock speed and a 68.7mm² die size.
1983 - 1st CMOS DRAM [13]
Intel develops a 1Mbit CMOS DRAM, the 1st CMOS DRAM. Ironically Intel soon exits the DRAM business.
1983 - EEPROM Invented [20]
16Kbit EEPROMs introduced based on the floating gate and MNOS.
1984 - Flash memory invented
Masuoka, et.al., of Toshiba disclosed at IEDM the idea of an electrically programmable - non-volatile memory that could be rapidly erased in blocks (Flash is for flash erase). The architecture also required only a single transistor per memory cell rather than 2 transistors per cell the way standard EEPROM did.
1985 - Commercial Flash memory introduced
Toshiba introduces a 256Kbit flash memory chip.
1985 - Intel 80386DX
The 80386 was the first 32 bit processor from Intel. The 80386 was manufactured in a silicon gate CMOS process with 1.5µm linewidths, required 10 mask layers and had 1 polysilicon layer and 2 metal layers, the 80386 had 275,000 transistors, a 16 to 33MHz clock speed and a 104mm² die size.

1985 - 200mm silicon wafers introduced [24]
1986 - ETOX style Flash introduced [21]
256Kbit introduced by Intel. ETOX is the most common style of Flash today.
1986 - 1Mbit DRAM
The 1Mbit DRAM introduced the use of non-planar DRAM memory cells such as stacked or trench cells, although some planar cells were also produced. The transition from a planar to a non planar cell is the third major DRAM transition. The 1Mbit DRAM was produced on a CMOS process requiring approximately 18 masks with 2 to 3 polysilicon layers and 1.2µm minimum features. The resulting product had a 25µm² memory cell size, a die size of approximately 70mm² and sold for around $100 at introduction.
1988 - 4Mbit DRAM
The 4Mbit DRAM was produced on a CMOS process requiring 20 to 25 masks, with 2 to 3 polysilicon layers, 2 metal layers and 0.8µm minimum features. All 4Mbit memory was produced with a stacked or trenched cell, 1Mbit DRAM was the end of the planar cell. The resulting product had a 12µm² memory cell size, a die size of approximately 95mm² and sold for around $124 at introduction. Later versions utilized smaller linewidths to shrink the die.
1989 - Intel 80486DXTM
The 80486 was the first processor from Intel to include a floating point coprocessor on chip and execute 1 instruction per clock cycle. The 80486 was manufactured in a silicon gate CMOS process with 1.0µm linewidths, required 12 mask layers and had 1 polysilicon layer and 3 metal layers, the 80486 had 1.2 million transistors, a 25 to 50MHz clock speed and a 163mm² die size.