How Do Integrated Circuits Differ
An integrated circuit (IC) is a complex web of resistors, transistors and other electrical components made from semiconductors, copper, silicon and other materials. They are tiny, occupying only a few square centimeters of space, and they are all interconnected. They are used in a wide variety of devices, from computers to washing machines, toasters and microwave ovens. They can be linear (analog), digital or a combination of both.
ICs differ from traditional circuitry in that they are designed and built as a single unit. They are small, microscopic, and encapsulated in a plastic package or “wafer.” In order to construct an IC, engineers start with a wafer of silicon. This wafer is then sliced into individual die that contain the IC’s components. These die are then packaged into the familiar black chips. An IC’s complicated interconnections make it impractical to connect them to each other without the proper packaging.
One of the first concepts for an integrated circuit dates back to 1949, when German engineer Werner Jacobi filed a patent for a device similar to a semiconductor amplifier. It pictured five transistors on a common substrate in a three-stage amplifier arrangement. However, Jacobi’s device was never commercially produced. It was Robert Noyce who invented the first monolithic IC in 1959, again using a silicon substrate.
How Do Integrated Circuits Differ From Traditional Circuitry?
What makes an IC different from other electronic devices is that it includes both active and passive components, all in a compact circuit board. The key to achieving this is that each device on an IC is fabricated with ultra-thin paths of metal, which function as electrical wires. These metal paths are etched on the surface of the chip, and they are usually color-coded to represent what type of circuit they’re a part of.
The ICs of today feature many billions of transistors in an area that’s only a few square millimeters. This is made possible by technological advances in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. These include the use of photolithography to define the underlying structure, and the ability to lay down different layers of the substrate with specific characteristics. These include insulating material, a conducting layer and a layer of dopants that affect how electric current flows through the chip.
Some ICs have capacitor structures that are shaped like the parallel conducting plates of traditional electrical capacitors, with insulating material between them. This is commonly used for power supply voltage stabilization and for noise suppression. Some ICs also contain memory, both volatile and non-volatile. Volatile memory, such as random-access memory, requires a continuous power supply in order to retain data; non-volatile memory, including read/write memory and flash storage, can preserve data after the IC is turned off.
Most modern ICs are designed with digital circuitry, such as microprocessors and digital signal processors (DSPs). These ICs operate using binary mathematics to process the signals that control the system’s functions; these are known as “ones” and “zeroes.” The low power dissipation and manufacturing costs of these digital ICs make them very popular with manufacturers.
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