Chip art images are often as cryptic in their origins
as they are fascinating, leaving us to wonder how a palm tree, a grinning
baby, or a sports car ended up gracing the edge of a particular device.
But thanks to a serendipitous connection we are pleased to be able to present
the full back story on how the image of a trombone managed to embed itself
in the oxide and metal of many early semiconductors. Rather than risk muddying
the waters, we've reprinted the tale exactly as it was told to us by the
original chip artist who goes by the nom-de-silicon of "SK."
Hi,
I am amazed to discover this. It belongs to me, SK, which explains the K in the bell. This goes back to the early 1980s.
It was originally created by a friend and mask design colleague, "TL" (name omitted to protect privacy), with whom I worked at AMD. She drew it on a piece of mylar and gave it to me while we were experiencing some down time. Back then were doing mask design both on mylar and on the newly introduced Calma GDSII CAD system because there were more designers than there were seats on the Calma. I liked it so much that I digitized it (making some spatial modifications and ensuring that it was design rule clean) and placed it on at least a dozen chips between 1981 and 1987.
I was working in the original AMD building in Sunnyvale, CA with the design engineers upstairs and the fab downstairs. All of the mask designers were in one large room on the second floor seated in rows of drafting tables. When we got tired of listening to the electric erasers hum we would stroll through the downstairs hallways and peer through the windows at the people walking around in bunny suits.
Intel and National were right down the street. There were still lots of fruit orchards throughout the valley. There were always empty dirt lots around for overflow parking. And there were three places you could go for lunch where you would always run into some fellow techies. One was the "De La Cruz Deli," another was a local topless club called "The Brass Rail" and then there was a small little grocery store called Fry's. It was always packed. One quick stop would get you a sandwich, chips, soda and a math co-processor with time to get back before the boss complained. Those were the days.
I just started a new job at a wonderful little company called JSI Microelectronics near Sacramento. One of the managers asked me if I had ever seen any "chip art." He brought up your website on my computer and there was my trombone. I was amazed. I made my living exclusively as a professional trombone player before getting a "real job" as a mask designer. I still play professionally. You can't believe how many high tech professionals double as freelance musicians. I once played in a Latin jazz band were four players had their PhD. I was not one of them.
Best Regards,
SK
Any comments on this month's chip art? Write us at: lgoldberg@green-electronics.com