Elliot Automation

Dummer lists 4 series of monolithic ICs sold by Elliot Automation:

• The A7700 series of linear amplifiers and comparators, in TO-5 outline, equivalent to the Fairchild µA7700 range.
• The MA series of MOS logic circuits.
• The D9 series of DTL logic circuits. The image shows a D946 quad 2-input NAND gate dated 1967.
• The H9 series of TTL logic circuits, equivalent to the Fairchild TTµL9000 range.

Ferranti

A major UK manufacturer of ICs was Ferranti, an electrical engineering company with a long history of working on government and military contracts. They manufactured a large number of silicon transistors and diodes for use in such projects, and successfully moved on to integrated circuits.

Like others, their first foray into ICs was via hybrid circuits. Their LCE devices are described as
hybrid digital logic circuit elements made up of thin-film passive elements and discrete planar semiconductor devices. The passive components are deposited on the surface of a glass substrate, hermetically sealed with one or more fused glass superstrates and interconnected with superimposed, photo-etched silver and gold plated copper patterns. The passive components are terminated along the long edges of the substrate by means of lands to which the leads of a 13-lead header are soldered. The header, substrate and leads are bonded with epoxy resin so that electrical connection between the passive chip and the leads is unaffected by thermally or mechanically induced stresses. The header securely holds the various packaged transistors, providing a modest heat sink for the semiconductors, and a suitable structural form for the finished microcircuit. The completed micro-circuit can be affixed to printed circuit or multilayer boards by conventional manufacturing methods.

Dummer and Mackenzie Robertson includes the following ranges:

• The LCE200 series of 'logical circuit elements'.
• The LCE300/400 series of 'logical circuit elements'.
• The LCE500 series of 'logical circuit elements'.
• The LCE700 series of 'logical circuit elements'.

• The LCE1200 series of 'logical circuit elements'. My image shows FF1201A, a JK flip-flop. Strangely, the same technology and naming scheme was used by the American company Intellux. The two companies must have had some relationship.

They also made linear circuits in three 'Multilin' ranges, in large metal packaging, described as
Multilin is a system of hybrid micro-electronics combining thin film passive components with integrated circuits and transistors. A particular feature of the construction is that the integrated circuits are mounted so as to ensure good heat transfer to the base of the can which is important where appreciable power has to be dissipated. Each Multilin comprises a gold plated nilo-K can into which are hermetically sealed the silicon integrated active elements and thin film passive components. Connection to the external circuit is by gold plated nickel leads brought out through glass-to-metal seals. The integrated circuits are usually functional elements from the Ferranti Microlin and Micronor ranges and are formed in an epitaxially grown layer of silicon on a silicon substrate by double diffusion of impurities using the well proved planar process which ensures protection of the active surface at all stages. Careful layout of the integrated circuit pattern, coupled with accurate control of diffusion, gives excellent matching and tracking of the constituent components. Interconnections are made by metal deposition under high vacuum. Each functional element is mounted on a ceramic substrate of special composition to give the correct thermal characteristics. Gold pads on the substrate facilitate connection to the passive component substrates.

Dummer and Mackenzie Robertson includes the following ranges:

• The Multilin FSS100 series 19 leads. Shown is FSS125 which unfortunately is not included in Dummer.
• The Multilin FSS200 series 11 leads.
• The Multilin FSS300 series 37 leads.

The book 'The Semiconductor Business: The Economics of Rapid Growth and Decline' by Franco Malerba' states that
In 1962 Ferranti developed the Microlin and Micronor I devices for small computers and in 1965 it developed the high-speed Micronor II DTL (based on RCA technology) for Ferranti's process-control computers.

Micronor I contains some quite bizarre circuits, and a correspondent who worked on Micronor II told me that it was designed to remedy the failings of the first family. Micronor I is hard to find, but my image shows type ZST2, which is a 'dual lamp/relay power driver'.

Micronor II was used in some early Ferranti Argus computers, such as this Argus 400.

Ferranti went on to make many ICs in standard plastic DIL packaging, such as this ZN244E. It is a DTL dual 4-input NOR power gate.

If you know more about early Ferranti ICs please

Marconi (GEC)

Dummer lists a lot of Ferranti Micronor II under Marconi. This is because, in order to sell to the military, ICs need to have a second licensed manufacturer and Marconi was chosen as the second-source of Micronor II.

Dummer also describes:

• 502-02/03/05/06 high-speed NOR logic elements

The image shows a 316-04 for which I have no data. It is the only Marconi-branded chip that I have ever come across. If you know where I might find examples of, or data for, any of these types, or know anything at all about Marconi ICs, please

Mullard/Philips

Mullard Limited became a successful UK manufacturer of ICs, albeit that they were wholly owned by Philips of The Netherlands. Mullard produced several ranges of ICs; Dummer lists:

A rather idiosyncratic Mullard/Philips IC product range containing analogue circuits. These use round metal cans and possibly flatpacks. They usually are unbranded. The part numbers originally had the numeric part before the alpha part, e.g., 101TAB but they seem to have exchanged the parts later.

• TAAnnn amplifiers
• TBAnnn radio and TV circuits
• TCAnnn amplifiers

Puzzlingly, other manufacturers also issued devices in the TAA and TBA series: Siemens, SGS, Telefunken and others.

The FC series of diode-transistor-logic (DTL) ICs in plastic dual-inline outline, and extended-temperature versions in flatpacks. however they are usually unbranded, and so may have been also made by Philips, and possibly also by Valvo. They come in groups:

• FCHnnn logic gates
• FCJnnn bistables (flip-flops)
• FCKnnn monostables
• FCLnnn level detectors (Schmitt triggers)
• FCYnnn diode arrays

• Similar TTL ICs in the FJannn series.

Dummer omits a rather obscure earlier range that Mullard manufactured:

The diode-transistor-logic (DTL) OMY series. These are listed in the Mullard 'Manual of integrated logic circuit applications' dated September 1966. They come in modified TO-5 metal 10-pin cans and use a dual +6V and -6V supply. There are two groupings: OMY100-OMY106 have a wider temperature range than OMY120-OMY126 and are intended for military application.

• OMY100 and OMY120 3-input NOR/NAND gate
• OMY101 and OMY121 bistable
• OMY102 and OMY122 steering circuit
• OMY103 and OMY123 buffer amplifier
• OMY104 and OMY124 NOR/NAND double gate
• OMY105 and OMY125 5-diode expander
• OMY106 and OMY126 JK flip-flop

Plessey

Another major UK IC manufacturer was the Plessey company. Their subsidiary, Semiconductors Limited, made a number of ranges of germanium and silicon transistors but they reverted to Plessey branding even before ICs came in. Dummer and Mackenzie Robertson lists some of their earliest ICs:

• The SL20 series of single chip solid circuit amplifiers, offers a range of high frequency amplifiers which are based on a simple feedback transistor pair. It comprises SL20, SL21, SL22, SL23 and SL24.
• The SL500 series are silicon monolithic epitaxial integrated circuit wideband amplifiers, intended primarily for use in linear radar I.F. strips operating at centre frequencies between 10 and 60 MHz. There are 10 members in the series.
• The SL700 series are monolithic epitaxial solid circuit high-gain d. c. amplifiers intended primarily for use as operational amplifiers or in instrumentation applications. There are 5 members in the series.
• The SL201B is a silicon, single chip, integrated circuit 2-transistor direct-coupled amplifier.
• The SL521A, B & C are silicon monolithic epitaxial integrated circuit wideband amplifier units intended primarily for use in successive detection logarithmic I.F. strips.

These come in either round metal cans or flatpacks. The image shows SL201B. If you know where I might find any of the SL20 series please

Standard Telephones and Cables

STC was a leading UK manufacturer of discrete semiconductors. When it came to ICs, they were slow to move to monolithic types. Dummer only lists thick- and thin- film hybrid circuits. However, I have an STC data book from 1962 that lists a small number of 'integrated circuits' containing germanium tunnel diodes in a CK series.

If you know where I might find any of them please (Beware that ICs marked STC may have been made by the US company Silicon Transistor Corporation).

Newmarket Semiconductors

NKT also was a leading UK manufacturer of discrete semiconductors, and also dabbled in custom hybrid microcircuits. However I have no documentation that they made monolithic ICs. However I do have the IC shown, type LIC709C5. I believe that this must be a version of the µA709 operational amplifier, arguably the second monolithic op-amp ever created, by Fairchild in 1965. Who made this one and why it is branded NKT is unknown to me.

If you know anything about this, please

There may well be other early UK ICs that I have missed.

If you know of any, please