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Fairchild revolutionized the semiconductor industry, prompting the widespread adoption of silicon materials in lieu of germanium. It also helped thrust MOSFET technology into the limelight. Growing from a collective of eight upstarts, the company eventually amassed a workforce exceeding 11,000.

Fairchild Semiconductor, former American electronics company that shares credit with Texas Instruments Incorporated for the invention of the integrated circuit. Founded in 1957, Fairchild was among the earliest firms to successfully manufacture transistors and integrated circuits.

Fairchild Semiconductor was an electronics and semiconductor manufacturing company that was one of the original Silicon Valley businesses. Their innovations had a massive impact on the world of computing today and they are largely responsible for much of the history of computing in the world.

An Innovation Machine. Through the decade of the 1960s, the company continued to innovate in other important areas of semiconductor technology. Fairchild scientists, led by Bruce Deal, Andy Grove, and Ed Snow, pioneered reliable metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) production.

About Fairchild Semiconductor. Founded in 1957 by eight former employees of the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Mountain View, California, Fairchild pioneered a host of industry leading semiconductor products including transistors, LEDs, and ICs.

Learn more about the companies that spun off from the legendary Fairchild Semiconductor. Read about their founding, growth, often spectacular success, and sometimes decline. Explore CHM resources to listen to oral histories of company founders and leaders, view innovative products from our collection of artifacts, and read documents from the ...

Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation founders. Fairchild founders pose under the “Flying F” logo in the company’s Mountain View lobby. From left: Gordon Moore, Sheldon Roberts, Eugene Kleiner, Robert Noyce, Victor Grinich, Julius Blank, Jean Hoerni and Jay Last.

Abstract. Robert Noyce's career at Fairchild Semiconductor sheds light on several developments that were central to the growth of Silicon Valley and the semiconductor industry: entrepreneurship, technical leadership, and the management of growth in a high-technology company.