Integrated Circuit

Integrated Circuit, tiny electronic circuit used to perform a specific electronic function, such as amplification; it is usually combined with other components to form a more complex system. It is formed as a single unit by diffusing impurities into single-crystal silicon, which then serves as a semiconductor material, or by etching the silicon by means of electron beams. Several hundred identical integrated circuits (ICs) are made at a time on a thin wafer several centimeters wide, and the wafer is subsequently sliced into individual ICs called chips. In large-scale integration (LSI), as many as 5000 circuit elements, such as resistors and transistors, are combined in a square of silicon measuring about 1.3 cm (.5 in) on a side. Hundreds of these integrated circuits can be arrayed on a silicon wafer 8 to 15 cm (3 to 6 in) in diameter. Larger-scale integration can produce a silicon chip with millions of circuit elements. Individual circuit elements on a chip are interconnected by thin metal or semiconductor films, which are insulated from the rest of the circuit by thin dielectric layers. Chips are assembled into packages containing external electrical leads to facilitate insertion into printed circuit boards for interconnection with other circuits or components.

During recent years, the functional capability of ICs has steadily increased, and the cost of the functions they perform has steadily decreased. This has produced revolutionary changes in electronic equipment—vastly increased functional capability and reliability combined with great reductions in size, physical complexity, and power consumption. Computer technology, in particular, has benefited greatly. The logic and arithmetic functions of a small computer can now be performed on a single VLSI chip called a microprocessor, and the complete logic, arithmetic, and memory functions of a small computer can be packaged on a single printed circuit board, or even on a single chip. Such a device is called a microcomputer.

In consumer electronics, ICs have made possible the development of many new products, including personal calculators and computers, digital watches, and video games. They have also been used to improve or lower the cost of many existing products, such as appliances, televisions, radios, and high-fidelity equipment. They have been applied in the automotive field for diagnostics and pollution control, and they are used extensively in industry, medicine, traffic control (both air and ground), environmental monitoring, and communications.