Pioneering work on low power low voltage CMOS technology and design performed in Switzerland, 1966 – 1980

Abstract

The founding in January 1962 of CEH (Centre Electronique Horloger SA, a limited stock company) with an equity investment over 5 years of 25 million Francs (roughly 6 million US$ at the then prevailing exchange rate) allowed the establishment of one of the first full-fledged silicon wafer fab line in Europe, headed by Dr. Kurt Huebner, an alumnus of Bill Shockley at his Labs in Mountain View from 1958 to 1962. Starting in 1964 bipolar ICs were produced there, mainly as binary dividers for frequencies from 360 Hz up to 8 kHz, (electromechanical watch hands display), working off an input voltage of 1,35 Volts (wristwatch mercury battery). But immediately after that Dr. F. Leuenberger and Dr. R. Taubenest undertook the development of low voltage CMOS technology, without any access to ion implantation, culminating with the first working CMOS IC chip in 1968.The report is divided into 4 sections: 1. Background information 1960–1965 2. Early CMOS technology and design at CEH 1966–1971 3. International convergence, the role of Dr. Jean Hoerni, and of the ion implantation wafer processing (1969–1972). 4. The digital wristwatch as “killer application” for fast development of very low power CMOS system on chips, 1972–1980. 5. Conclusion.