Jack Kilby's prototype microchip goes up for auction for up to $2 million
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In 1958 Texas Instruments engineer Jack Kilby demonstrated his invention of the integrated circuit.
The new technology would become an integral part in microchips used to power a whole manner of devices from computers to phones.
And now that invention from 56 years ago is going up for auction at Christie's New York - and it is expected to sell for up to £1.2 million ($2 million).
Jack Hyslop, science specialist for Christie's, displays the 1958 prototype of a microchip before auction in New York City. The microchip helped inventor Jack Kilby win the Novel prize and is expected to sell for up to £1.2 million ($2 million) when it goes under the hammer today
Kilby ultimately won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for his work on the microchip. He died five years later.
AN EXCERPT FROM YEARGAN'S LETTER DATED 30 APRIL 1964
'I assisted Jack in his work on semiconductor networks.
'I remember working on the first unit, a phase shift oscillator.
'At the time, I was assigned to Stacy Watelski and had been working for him on germanium transistor having a horshoe base and dot emitter.
'In this work, I evaporated metal to form the base and emitter.
'I heated the germanium and then evaporated the metal.
'When metal hit the germanium, it became alloyed in.'
The prototype going under the hammer today helped create the microchip revolution.
It was designed by Kilby, but actually built by Tom Yeargan, a member of the team that brought Kilby's theories to fruition.
Kilby was intent on bringing miniaturisation to the period's giant computers, and was ultimately successful with his design.
The integrated circuit is mounted on glass and enclosed in a plastic case belonging to Yeargan.
It has a label signed by Kilby.
It's accompanied by a statement by Yeargan, whose descendants are offering the circuit.
While nowadays most chips of this sort are made from silicon, Kilby and Yeargan's design was made from germanium, which is slightly more reactive than silicon.
'Virtually the birth certificate of the modern computing era, this prototype helped spawn the microchip revolution,' Christie's said in a release.
'From the clock on a microwave oven, through tablets and laptops, to the Large Hadron Collider, microchips pervade the electronic devices we use on a daily basis.
'Kilby's work at Texas Instruments enabled further technological breakthroughs that dramatically reduced the size and cost of computing power.'
The prototype going under the hammer today helped create the microchip revolution. It was designed by Texas Instruments engineer Jack Kilby in 1958 but actually built by Tom Yeargan, a member of the team that brought Kilby's theories to fruition
Christie's says the chip is one of the most important advancements in the history of microcomputing. While nowadays most chips of this sort are made from silicon (pictured), Kilby and Yeargan's design was made from germanium, which is slightly more reactive than silicon
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