silicon chip

silicon chip
    n 1: electronic equipment consisting of a small crystal of a
         silicon semiconductor fabricated to carry out a number of
         electronic functions in an integrated circuit [syn: {chip},
         {microchip}, {micro chip}, {silicon chip}, {microprocessor
         chip}]
    

integrated circuit
chip
silicon chip

   <electronics> (IC, or "chip") A microelectronic
   {semiconductor} device consisting of many interconnected
   transistors and other components.  ICs are constructed
   ("fabricated") on a small rectangle (a "die") cut from a
   Silicon (or for special applications, Sapphire) wafer.  This
   is known as the "substrate".  Different areas of the substrate
   are "doped" with other elements to make them either "p-type"
   or "n-type" and polysilicon or aluminium tracks are etched in
   one to three layers deposited over the surface.  The die is
   then connected into a package using gold wires which are
   welded to "pads", usually found around the edge of the die.

   Integrated circuits can be classified into analogue, digital
   and hybrid (both analogue and digital on the same chip).
   Digital integrated circuits can contain anything from one to
   millions of {logic gates} - {inverters}, {AND}, {OR}, {NAND}
   and {NOR} gates, {flip-flops}, {multiplexors} etc. on a few
   square millimeters.  The small size of these circuits allows
   high speed, low power dissipation, and reduced manufacturing
   cost compared with board-level integration.

   The first integrated circuits contained only a few
   {transistors}.  Small Scale Integration ({SSI}) brought
   circuits containing transistors numbered in the tens.  Later,
   Medium Scale Integration ({MSI}) contained hundreds of
   transistors.  Further development lead to Large Scale
   Integration ({LSI}) (thousands), and VLSI (hundreds of
   thousands and beyond).  In 1986 the first one {megabyte} {RAM}
   was introduced which contained more than one million
   transistors.

   LSI circuits began to be produced in large quantities around
   1970 for computer main memories and pocket calculators.  For
   the first time it became possible to fabricate a {CPU} or even
   an entire {microprocesor} on a single integrated circuit.  The
   most extreme technique is {wafer-scale integration} which uses
   whole uncut wafers as components.

   [Where and when was the term "chip" introduced?]

   (1997-07-03)