Integrated Circuit Technology

IC technology development, characteristics, and power levels were reviewed. IC technology has experienced unprecedented advances in power levels over nearly four decades. These advances have fueled the development of the information age. Concerns have been expressed that IC power levels may be approaching maximum limits under existing production technologies and that new approaches will soon be required to provide additional power.

This research examines the development and the power (density) of the integrated circuit (IC). The findings of this research are presented within the contexts of (1) the developmental history of IC technology, (2) general characteristics of ICs, (3) IC technology power considerations, (4)IC types produced on a large-scale, (5) recent developmental advances, and (6) the future of IC technology.

Developmental History of IC Technology

Integrated circuits (ICs) "have their origin in the development of the solid-state equivalent of the thermionic valve�the transistor" [7:1]. The IC per se was invented in the laboratories of Texas Instruments in the late-1950s. IC technology "paved the way to miniaturized electronic systems by eliminating the need for masses of separate transistors joined by a maze of wiring" [4:542]. ICs are commonly referred to a microchips [9:634].

Integrated circuits "can be packed by the million on a thumbnail-size semiconducting chip"

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rface of the structure after the passive elements have been formed" [1:626]. The principal difference between thin film and thick film ICs is the process used to form the passive components. Thin film ICs use "an evaporation or cathode-sputtering technique; the thick-film circuit employs silk-screen techniques" [1:626]. Passive components can be formed on thin film and thick film ICs "with a broader range of values and reduced tolerances as compared to the monolithic IC" [1:626]. 3. Hybrid. The hybrid IC is either a multichip IC or an IC formed "through a combination of the film and monolithic IC techniques" [1:627]. The production of a multichip IC uses either the film technique or the monolithic technique. In the multichip, individual ICs are interconnected on an insulating substrate. A more "sophisticated" hybrid IC type is produced by forming the active elements within a semiconductor wafer "which is subsequently covered with an insulating layer of SiO2" [1:627]. Film techniques then are used to "form the passive elements on the SiO2 surface. Connections are made from the film to the monolithic structure through 'windows' cut in the SiO2 layer" [1:627]. In creating an 18 gigahertz wireless networking system, Motoro

Category: Science - I