MICROCHIP

Microchips, also termed "integrated circuits" or "chips," are

small, thin rectangles of a crystalline semiconductor,
usually silicon, that have been inlaid and overlaid with
microscopically patterned substances so as to produce
transistors and other electronic components on its surface.
It is the components on the chip, not the chip itself, that are
micro or too small see with the naked eye. The microchip
has made it possible to miniaturize digital computers,
communications circuits, controllers, and many other
devices. Since 1971, whole computer CPUs (central
processing units) have been placed on some microchips;
these devices are termed microprocessors.
Manufacture of a microchip begins with the growing of a
pure, single crystal of silicon or other semiconducting
element. A semiconductor is a substance whose resistance
to electrical current is between that of a conductive metal
and that of an insulating material such as glass (silicon
dioxide, SiO2). This large, single crystal is then sawed into
thin, disc-shaped wafers 4–12 inches (10–30 cm) across
and only .01–.024 inches (.025–.06 cm) thick. One side of
each wafer is polished to high precision, then processed to
produce on it a number of identical microchips. These are
cut apart later, placed in tiny protective boxes or packages,
and connected electrically to the outside world by metal
pins protruding from the packages.
Producing a microchip requires industrial facilities that cost
billions of dollars and must be retooled every few years as
technology advances. The basics of the microchip
fabrication process, however, remain the same: by
bombarding the surface of the wafer with atoms of various
elements, impurities or "dopants" can be introduced into its
crystalline structure. These atoms have different electron-
binding properties from the silicon atoms around them and
so populate the crystal either with extra electrons or with
holes, gaps that behave much like positively charged
electrons. Holes and extra electrons confer specific
electrical properties on the regions of the crystal where they
reside. By arranging the doped regions containing holes or
extra electrons and covering them with multiple,
interleaved layers of SiO2, polycrystalline silicon (silicon
comprised of small, jumbled crystals), and metal strips to
conduct current from one place to another, each microchip
can be endowed with thousands or millions of microscopic
devices. Such chips are termed integrated because the
electronic components in them are integral parts of a single,
solid object; this both decreases their size and increases
their reliability.
The microchip was conceived simultaneously in 1958 by
U.S. engineers Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce (1927–1990).
In 1962, microchips were used in the guidance computer of
the U.S. Minuteman missile (a nuclear-tipped
intercontinental ballistic missile based in holes or silos in
the American Midwest); the U.S. government also funded
early microchip mass-production facilities as part of its
Apollo program, for which it requires lightweight digital
computers. The Apollo command and lunar modules each
had microchip-based computers with 32-kilobyte
memories.
For some 40 years, the number of electronic components on
an individual microchip has doubled every few years; this
trend has been described as Moore's Law ever since 1965,
when U.S. engineer Gordon Moore described the beginning
of the trend. Engineers continually strive to fit more
electronic components on each microchip; however, this is
becoming steadily more difficult as device dimensions
decrease toward the atomic scale, where quantum
uncertainty renders traditional electronics unreliable.
Microchip engineers predict that by about 2020, the
exponential increases of the last few decades will cease.
Since their advent, microchips have transformed much of
human society. They permit the manufacture of small
electronic devices containing many millions of
components; they are essential to computers, missiles,
"smart" bombs, satellites, communications devices,
televisions, aircraft, spacecraft, and motor vehicles.
Without microchips the personal computer, cell phone,
calculator, Global Positioning System, and many other
familiar technologies, both military and civil, would be
impossible. As chip complexity increases and cost
decreases thanks to improvements in manufacturing
technique, new applications are continually being found.