Semiconductor History

The photo above shows a hybrid technology 12-bit D/A Converter from Burr-Brown Corporation. By 1986 this was replaced by a monolithic i.e. single chip design. Under the metal lid is a ceramic substrate based multi-chip module. See below for examples of the technology. DAC85 is the model number. The 1st C is the operating temp range (0 to 70C). CBI is complementary bipolar inputs and V is the voltage output version. 12-bit DACs from Burr-Brown were used primarily in industrial applications like automation and factory control. If you only know DACs for digital audio, then 12 bit may seem a low resolution, but parameters that were most important for high end industrial use would not be relevant for audio. These DACs were very precise.

Burr-Brown Research Corporation introduced the first solid state modular op amp in 1962. It was a circuit board based device with discrete transistors, resistors, capacitors etc in a fully tested potted module. The 1510 example potted module op amp in the image is date coded 1971.  Fairchild Semiconductor had introduced monolithic bipolar op amps in the 1960s but they were low performance.  There was no ability to trim parameters on-chip, but within the Burr-Brown modules it was possible.  It wasn't until the likes of Burr-Brown and Precision Monolithics developed on-chip thin film laser trimming that precision analog ICs were introduced. The Burr-Brown OPA134 OpAmp on top for size comparison is from 1996.