Term of the Moment
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Definition: planar transistor
An integrated circuit (IC) technique developed by Fairchild Instruments in 1959 that creates transistors on a flat surface compared to the uneven surface of the earlier mesa process. The planar transistor, which also creates connecting lines by depositing metal conductors, superseded the mesa method and was a major step toward creating today's integrated circuit (the chip). Contrast with mesa transistor. See transistor, monolithic integrated circuit and chip manufacturing.
The First Planar IC
In 1960, Fairchild Semiconductor introduced the first planar integrated circuit, and its first commercial IC went into production a year later. A year earlier, Fairchild co-founder Robert Noyce, filed for a patent on the planar process, which used his interconnection idea and Jean Hoerni's planar method. (Image courtesy of Fairchild Semiconductor.)