In a stunning technological achievement, a CPU collector managed to stitch together 216 microscopic photos to create a high-resolution image of the Intel i8008 chip, Intel's first 8-bit microprocessor officially launched in April 1972. The colle...
In a stunning technological achievement, a CPU collector managed to stitch together 216 microscopic photos to create a high-resolution image of the Intel i8008 chip, Intel's first 8-bit microprocessor officially launched in April 1972. The collector, who goes by the name CPU Duke, recently shared these detailed images on social media, showing off the architecture of this landmark processor.
This i8008 chip was donated by the ENTER Technikwelt Computer Museum in Solothurn, Switzerland. The museum hopes that CPU Duke can produce a chip image of this early processor. The design team of i8008 was similar to that of the previous i4004, and it was officially launched in April 1972. The chip was manufactured using a 10-micron pMOS process, and Intel operated an assembly plant in Barbados until 1986.
To create such a wafer image, CPU Duke first "shells" the wafer, a process that involves removing the wafer casing with a screwdriver and stretching the wafer's DIP IC pins to fit the press, and then heating the processor package to about 600 degrees Celsius. With the silicon material exposed, CPU Duke began to prepare the imaging device.
#Halloween time is decapping time! 🎃 Of course no humans or animals were harmed in the process…only a long forgotten #IntegratedCircuit revealing a precious 8bit #die…more soon to come. 💀 pic.twitter.com/asZf1N8RXg
— CPU Duke (@duke_cpu) October 15, 2025
During the imaging process, CPU Duke first took some macro images to get an overview of the wafer, then used a Wild/Leica stereomicroscope for more detailed observations, and finally created the final high-resolution image by accurately aligning and stitching 216 microscopic images. The images clearly show the chip's 18-pin connector, marked "Intel 1972," "8008" and "HF," the latter thought to be a nod to Hal Freeny, a new member of the i8008 design team.
It’s the 8008, the first #8bit CPU of #Intel… I stitched 216 individual #microscopy pictures to get this high resolution canvas of the die from 1971. (8/n) https://t.co/nci4JmoB0S pic.twitter.com/lKihf7qL9M
— CPU Duke (@duke_cpu) October 20, 2025
CPU Duke pointed out that the roughness of this 10-micron pMOS structure makes "optical microscopy still feasible." On closer inspection, collectors noticed the visibility of the p-channel MOS structure beneath the metal surface. In particular, the semiconducting polysilicon appears dark green, while the non-conductive portion appears bright green in some optical microscopy images.
While the final stitched microscopic image would be more revealing if it had some kind of color-coded overlay, computer historian and reverse engineer Ken Shirriff has shared an overview analysis of the i8008 chip that allows one to cross-reference these rougher images to determine the function of various areas in the new image, such as arithmetic logic units (ALUs), scratchpads, stack counters, and buses.
CPU collector stitches 216 micrographs to create high resolution die shot of the legendary i8008 — Intel’s 54-year-old milestone 8-bit CPU seen like never before
