Digital Logic

First production planar IC, 1960

This first production version of the Micrologic “F” element flip-flop planar IC was made by Isy Haas and Lionel Kattner in September 1960.

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How Digital Computers Compute

All digital computers work on the same principle: manipulating on/off signals to implement logic functions.

There have been many ways to generate those on/off signals, from mechanical devices to electromagnetic relays, vacuum tubes, transistors, and integrated circuits (ICs). This evolution brought ever-faster, smaller components, yielding dramatic improvements in capacity and cost that transformed computers from specialty tools to everyday devices.