Molecular Expressions: Images From The Microscope
Silicon Zoo: Doodles of a Lesser Fab
Silicon Zoo: Doodles of a Lesser Fab
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Some silicon doodles are more complex than others. This gallery has been constructed to house those doodles that are on the lower end of the complexity scale. By delegating silicon scribbles to this gallery, we do not intend to lessen the importance of their messages, only to conserve space in the main Silicon Zoo gallery.

Another corner of the zoo, "Silicon Scriptures", contains photomicrographs of designers' names and initials, declarations, and other messages left on the surface of integrated circuits. We have also constructed a Silicon Logos gallery that contains corporate logos etched in silicon and found on computer chips. Our search has also led to the discovery of so many flags and maps that we have established a special Silicon Flag and Map gallery to present these tiny renditions.

We are in perpetual search of additional integrated circuits that may contain residual scribbling left by chip designers. If you know of any, please email us with the pertinent information. We will be happy to pay for registered shipping of the chips both ways to ensure they do not get "lost" in the mail.

Silicon Zoo Screen Savers - Download our Silicon Zoo screen savers for Windows now! We have versions featuring 20, 40, 60, or over 80 creatures sized just right for your download connection, whether it is a 14.4K modem or fast T3 Ethernet connection.

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Analog Devices Godzilla - Analog Devices chip designers have placed yet another doodle on one of their digital signal processors. This time, it is a miniature silicon rendition of the fire-breathing monster Godzilla.

The Anchor Jet - This 10-micron jet airplane was captured trying to fly off the surface of an SGS-Thomson integrated circuit.

Atomic Silicon - The Neils Bohr atomic model was recreated in silicon on this NCR integrated circuit of unknown function.

The Bat - Most integrated circuits are minus a bat icon. We discovered this bat on a chip of unknown function.

Boot and Spur - A cowboy-style boot complete with spur was discovered on a chip having an unknown function and identity.

The Cabin Cruiser - We spotted this tiny rendition of a pleasure boat floating on the surface of an SGS-Thomson integrated circuit.

CamelSega - This camel was standing alone in the corner of a National Instrument "CamelSega" chip, making it easy to catch on film.

Cheese Man - Shaped like a wedge of cheese, this doodle resides on a 64 Mbit DRAM manufactured by Toshiba, IBM, and Siemens.

Cincinnati Bearcats Multiplier - Electrical engineering students Matt Billenstein and Vipul Patel produced the Cincinnati Bearcat logo for a class project in VLSI (very large scale integration) design while undergraduates at the University.

Comdial Man - We discovered this anatomically correct man on a chip made by Canon for Comdial.

Comdial Woman - On the other side of the pad ring from the Comdial Man is the Comdial Woman (with a pin-shaped head). We suspect the chip is not quite big enough for both of them.

Crystal Audio Codec - A switch and voltmeter were added to this Crystal Semiconductor audio codec integrated circuit to show that the chip is running and drawing current.

Crystal Audio Equalizer - While this chip was being designed, engineer Greg Rohde decided to place an equalizer front panel in an open space within the audio mixer stage of the circuitry. The equalizer panel is constructed with a metal-metal cap and contains 10 volume sliders.

Crystal Vacuum Tube - Chip designer Greg Rohde hid a vacuum tube within the power-ground capacitor circuitry of a Crystal Semiconductor analog-to-digital converter integrated circuit.

Digital Equipment Corporation Favor - The Digital Equipment Corporation FAVOR floating point chip was modeled after a previous design, termed the KIWI, but ran much faster. That is why the FAVOR bulldozer is dragging the Kiwi along in this digital image.

Digital Equipment Corporation Verse - Chip designers from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) added their signatures to the surface of this integrated circuit in a manner similar to that of an artist signing a work of art, such as a painting or a sculpture.

Dumbo: World's Smallest Elephant - Guarding the logic unit of an EPROM, this elephant reminds us that, like the EPROM, it never forgets.

Eat A Peach - The logo for the Atlanta Design Center of Integrated Device Technology (IDT) appears to be the famous Georgia peach.

The First Buffalo - Early Silicon-On-Sapphire integrated circuits from Hewlett-Packard used a buffalo icon in documentation and on the chips.

Five Cows - A string of cattle was found on an AMD 80486DX4 microprocessor integrated circuit.

German Fox - Lurking within the circuitry of a wafer made in former East Germany, this fox has a pair of beady silicon eyes.

German Mask Cat - While examining an old East German mask utilized to build integrated circuits during the Cold War, we stumbled across a cat icon that was repeated across the mask surface.

I Love Hewlett-Packard - One of the mask designers had a crush on Hewlett-Packard, or so it seems.

IDT is Number One - A hand clinched in the "Number One" salute was discovered on an IDT memory integrated circuit.

Intel Pyramid - A miniature pyramid was built by the Intel chip designers on a single corner of all 486DX2 microprocessor dies that we have examined.

The Last Transistor - Digital engineers placed a star at the location of the last transistor laid out in the design of the CVAX microprocessor.

Lattice Forest - A small grove of trees was photographed near the pad ring of a Lattice Semiconductor programmable logic chip.

Pac Rat (Programmable Analog Circuit) - A pack rat is the logo for the programmable analog circuit design team (PAC) at Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, who is responsible for designing and producing the ispPAC30, a dynamically reconfigurable analog device.

Pac Wolf - The wolf silhouette presented in this section is the signature of engineer Reo Gargovich, the lead designer of the Lattice Semiconductor Corporation's popular ispPAC30 integrated circuit, a dynamically reconfigurable analog device.

PowerPC 603 Body Builder - This body builder was discovered pressing PowerPC iron in the scribe lane of a Motorola PowerPC 603e microprocessor.

The Riverboat - A tiny silicon rendition of a Mississippi riverboat (minus the gamblers) was spotted sailing along the pad ring of an ST-Microelectronics sequent integrated circuit.

Rockwell Advanced Architecture Microprocessor - We stumbled across a miniature silicon spacecraft while examining the AAMP2 microprocessor control unit from Rockwell Semiconductor's Jupiter Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver.

Siemens Muscle Man - We caught this guy showing off his bicep on a Siemens PSB2120 power controller integrated circuit. Seems like quite a bit of body-building going on in the Silicon Zoo.

Siemens SIPMOS - Several stickman figures sporting banners that read Smart and SIPMOS were discovered on a Siemens integrated circuit of unknown origin.

Siemens TV Set - We spotted a miniature silicon television set near the pad ring on a Siemens video processor integrated circuit.

Siemens TV Set (Part 2) - Another miniature television set was discovered embedded within the circuitry of a Siemens SDA 9243 dynamic sequential access memory for television (TV-SAM) integrated circuit.

Siemens TV in a TV - A pair of embedded miniature television sets was discovered deep within the circuitry of a Siemens 191A21 integrated circuit that we assume is configured for operation video components (perhaps the picture-in-picture feature).

Silicon Eagle - We stumbled across this miniature silicon eagle while examining an integrated circuit of undetermined function, which was probably manufactured in East Germany during the Cold War.

Silicon Mouse - A miniature silicon mouse whose tail forms the initials RBP was discovered on an old East German memory chip made during the Cold War period.

Space Invaders - Digital Equipment chip designers were prolific with their artwork on the integrated circuits used in VAX computers. The creature featured at this link appears to be a wireframe model from the "Space Invaders" arcade video game.

Symbios Dolphins - A pair of dolphins appears just above the Symbios corporate logo near the pad ring on a SCSI ethernet controller chip.

TEC Moustache - We ran across this micron-sized silicon rendition of a handlebar moustache on a TEC application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

Texas Instruments' Happy Face - A happy face character that appears to be a hybrid between the popular cartoon drawing and a transistor was discovered on the surface of a Texas Instruments ABT16240 16-bit buffer driver integrated circuit.

Thomson Anchor - SGS-Thomson fabricates many integrated circuits for the military. This anchor was discovered on a chip that also has a silicon submarine, cabin cruiser, and a jet airplane.

Western Digital Train - We are not sure why a hard disk controller chip needs a train, but we found one on a Western Digital integrated circuit.


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