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Definition: mesa transistor


The semiconductor process developed in the mid-1950s for creating the early transistors. Mesa transistors on a wafer resembled the flat tops and sloped sides of the hills (mesas) in the Grand Canyon, and the irregularity of the surfaces caused problems. They were, of course, miniature in size, but mesa gave way to the totally flat planar process. Contrast with planar transistor. See transistor, monolithic integrated circuit and chip manufacturing.




First Mesa IC Demonstration
In 1958, Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments demonstrated the first integrated circuit (IC) using elements connected by gold "flying wires." This was the first demo of the mesa process. (Image courtesy of Texas Instruments, Inc.)