Jack Kilby
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Integrated circuits have two main advantages over discrete transistors: cost and performance. The low cost is due to the fact that the chip prints all of its components as a unit through photolithography, rather than making just one transistor at a time.
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The high performance is due to the fast switching of the components, which consumes less energy because the components are small and close to each other. In 2006, the chip area ranged from a few square millimeters to 350 mm2, which could reach one million transistors per mm2.
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The first prototype integrated circuit was completed by Jack Kilby in 1958 and consisted of a bipolar transistor, three resistors, and a capacitor.