Integrated circuits consist of electric components such as transistors, resistors, capacitors, and metallic interconnects manufactured at a nanometer scale on a silicon chip. Chip designers are constantly seeking to pack more components into less space making the engineering requirements of chip design almost an art. In the 1970s and early 1980s design engineers began to personalize their chip designs by leaving microscopic images etched inside the chips’ functioning design. These images took a variety of forms; company logos, funny animals, comic characters, or inside jokes between the engineering team. This hidden art helped to show that chip layers were correctly aligned and could prove that a competitor had stolen a chip design. Once chip designs were covered by copyright in 1984, chip art became a way for engineers to assert their individuality into the mass production of chip manufacturing.
This 21msp50/55/56 digital signal processor chip was created by Analog Devices Incorporated around 1994. The chip contains an image of a fire-breathing Godzilla.
Intel 1103 1K Bit pMOS Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chip. Marked on top: "i / D1103 / I3261100", on bottom: "i Philippines / B / 7928". Refreshing all 1024 bits is accomplished in 32 read cycles and is required every two milliseconds - a one-transistor DRAM. This is the chip that replaced hand-wound ferrite core memories. The first commercially available computer using the 1103 was the HP 9800 series.
Intel 8088. This 16-bit Microprocessor was used in desktops. Standard CPU for all IBM PCs and PC clones. Contained 29,000 transistors with clock speeds of 8 MHz and 4.77 MHz and 64K Memory. Marked: "i / D8088 / I2500007 / Intel '78"; on bottom: "Malaysia / 8238 EP E".
Marked on top: “i / D4004 / W1082718 / S1310 BI”; on bottom: “E BJ / Philippines”. The Intel 4004 microprocessor was released on November 15, 1971. Packaged in a 16-pin ceramic dual in-line package is a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU). The 4004 is the first complete CPU on one chip, the first commercially available microprocessor, a feat made possible by the use of the new (1970) silicon gate technology allowing the integration of a higher number of transistors (2,300) and a faster speed than was possible before. The 4004 employed a 10 um silicon-gate enhancement load pMOS technology and could execute approximately 92,000 instructions per second (a single instruction cycle was 11 microseconds).
Intel introduced its 8080A 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) microprocessor in April 1974. Generally considered as the first truly usable microprocessor, the chip ran at 2 megahertz and powered the Altair 8800 and the IMSAI 8080, two of the first Personal Computers. Housed in a 40-pin DIP package that contained 6,000 transistors, the integrated circuit could receive 8-bit instructions and perform 16-bit operations. This particular example is marked "8321"indicating it was made in the 21st week of 1983. The "D8080A" means the unit has a housing of black ceramic.
Intel's 8008 8 bit microprocessor was the first 8 bit microprocessor. AKA 1201. Marked on top: "i / D8008-1 / I33370057", on back: "Barbados / G / 8330 CG". The 8008 has 3,500 transistors, 200 KHz clock speed, introduced in April 1972. Designers were Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin, Stan Mazor and Hal Feeney. Typical uses: Dumb terminals, general calculators, bottling machines, data/character manipulation.