Microelectronics
From Encyclopædia
The branch of
electronics that emphasizes the miniaturization of both individual electronic components and complete electronic circuits is called microelectronics. The most notable achievement of microelectronics is the INTEGRATED CIRCUIT, which consists of an electronic circuit fabricated by a complex series of production steps on or in a
semiconductor chip, a thin slice of a semiconducting material such as
silicon or germanium, measuring a few millimeters on a side. Because the individual components of an integrated circuit can be formed within the same
semiconductor matrix, conventional interconnection
wires and protective packages are not required. The components can therefore be packed close together (a
density of several hundred thousand or more per chip), and the integrated circuit can be produced much less expensively than the circuitry it replaces. Some components, such as certain resistors and capacitors, cannot be reduced to the size that is required for an integrated circuit and must be incorporated into a
printed circuit.Forrest M. Mims IIIAlley, C., and Atwood, K., Microelectronics (1986); Colclaser, Roy A., Microelectronics: Processing and Design, 2d ed. (1988); Lee, H. H., Fundamentals of Microelectronic Processing (1984); Millman, J., Microelectronics, 2d ed. (1987); Reid, T. R., The Chip (1985).
