52.082 EYE OF A NEEDLE, Science Service Historical Image Collection

1959 - Dr. J.T. Wallmark inserts in the eye of a needle an integrated logic element

SMALL ENOUGH TO FIT IN THE EYE OF A NEEDLE

CD 1967030 E&MP52.082

Electronics

March 22, 1959

The miniature device being inserted in the eye of a needle by Dr. J.T. Wallmark of the RCA Laboratories technical staff is an integrated logic element for electronic computers.

It is under development by RCA scientists in a program supported by Air Force Cambridge Research Center.

It is designed to perform basic electronic computer functions that now require a dozen or more conventional components.

So compact that 100 million might be crammed into a cubic foot, such elements are described by the scientists as an important step toward an ultimate goal of computer components as compact as those of the brain.

In form shown here, the device consists of a small piece of silicon grooved to form several transistor-like parts that make up a single integrated unit.

Such logic elements, pieced together in various arrangements, may perform all basic computer functions of calculating, sorting, "remembering" and controlling flow of information, permitting ultra-compact computer design.