Integrated circuit
Compact electronic circuits on a semiconductor chip revolutionized modern technology.
An integrated circuit (IC), often called a microchip or just a chip, is a small assembly of electronic circuitry. It combines components like transistors, resistors, and capacitors, along with their connections, all fabricated onto a thin, flat piece of semiconductor material—usually silicon. These chips are essential in many electronic devices, handling tasks such as data processing, control, and storage. They have reshaped electronics by making devices smaller, boosting performance, and cutting costs.
Compared to circuits built from separate parts, ICs are far smaller, faster, more energy-efficient, and cheaper. They allow for an enormous number of transistors on a single chip. Their suitability for mass production, high reliability, and standardized design approach quickly replaced older designs using individual transistors. Today, ICs are found in nearly every electronic device and have transformed modern technology. Products like computer processors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, and embedded chips in home appliances are fundamental to contemporary life because of their tiny size, low cost, and versatility.
Very-large-scale integration became practical thanks to advances in semiconductor fabrication. Since the 1960s, chips have grown dramatically in size, speed, and capacity, driven by technical improvements that pack more transistors onto chips of the same size—a modern chip can hold many billions of transistors in an area the size of a fingernail. These advances, roughly following Moore's law, mean today's computer chips have millions of times the capacity and thousands of times the speed of those from the early 1970s.
ICs have three main advantages over circuits made from discrete components: size, cost, and performance. Their small size and low cost come from printing all components as a unit using photolithography, rather than building them one transistor at a time. Packaged ICs also use far less material than discrete circuits. Performance is high because components switch quickly and use little power due to their tiny size and close spacing. The main drawback is the high initial cost of design and the enormous expense of building factories. This means ICs are only commercially viable when produced in large volumes.
**Terminology**
An "integrated circuit" is formally defined as a circuit where all or some elements are inseparab
- field
- Electronics / Semiconductor Engineering
- known_for
- Compact assembly of electronic circuits on a semiconductor chip; enabling miniaturization, high performance, and low cost in electronic devices
Lore & Background
A precursor to the integrated circuit was small ceramic substrates known as micromodules, each containing a single miniaturized electronic component. The idea was proposed to the U.S. Army by Jack Kilby in 1957, leading to the short-lived Micromodule Program. However, Kilby devised a fundamentally new approach: the integrated circuit itself. Newly employed by Texas Instruments, Kilby recorded his initial ideas in July 1958 and demonstrated the first working example on 12 September 1958. His patent application of 6 February 1959 described the device as 'a body of semiconductor material ... wherein all the components of the electronic circuit are completely integrated.' The first customer was the US Air Force. Kilby won the 2000 Nobel Prize in physics for his part in the invention.
Kilby's invention was not a true monolithic integrated circuit chip, as it relied on external gold-wire connections. About six months later, Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor developed the first practical monolithic IC chip, enabled by the planar process invented by Jean Hoerni and p–n junction isolation by Kurt Lehovec. Modern IC chips are based on Noyce's monolithic design. NASA's Apollo Program was the largest single consumer of integrated circuits between 1961 and 1965.
Transistor–transistor logic (TTL) was developed by James L. Buie in the early 1960s and became the dominant technology for digital integrated circuits during the 1970s to early 1980s. Modern ICs are based on the metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), forming MOS ICs. The earliest experimental MOS IC was a 16-transistor chip built by Fred Heiman and Steven Hofstein at RCA in 1962. The first commercial MOS integrated circuit was introduced in 1964 by General Microelectronics. MOS chips further increased in complexity at a rate predicted by Moore's law, leading to large-scale integration (LSI) and later very large-scale integration (VLSI).
Reader's Guide
Integrated circuits have three main advantages over circuits constructed out of discrete components: size, cost, and performance. Size and cost are low because chips are printed as a unit by photolithography rather than being constructed one transistor at a time, and packaged ICs use much less material. Performance is high because components switch quickly and consume comparatively little power due to their small size and proximity. The main disadvantage is the high initial cost of designing them and the enormous capital cost of factory construction, meaning ICs are only commercially viable when high production volumes are anticipated.
Since their origins in the 1960s, the size, speed, and capacity of chips have progressed enormously, driven by technical advances that fit more and more transistors on chips of the same size—a modern chip may have many billions of transistors in an area the size of a human fingernail. These advances, roughly following Moore's law, make computer chips of today possess millions of times the capacity and thousands of times the speed of chips from the early 1970s. The application of MOS LSI chips to computing was the basis for the first microprocessors and microcontrollers by the early 1970s. Today, ICs are present in virtually all electronic devices and have revolutionized modern technology, with products such as computer processors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, and embedded processing chips in home appliances being foundational to contemporary society.
Did You Know?
- Jack Kilby demonstrated the first working integrated circuit on 12 September 1958 at Texas Instruments.
- Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor developed the first practical monolithic IC chip, which modern ICs are based on.
- NASA's Apollo Program was the largest single consumer of integrated circuits between 1961 and 1965.
- The earliest experimental MOS IC was a 16-transistor chip built at RCA in 1962.
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