Integrated Circuit Technology

1. Oyawole Oluwadamilola- 170408019

2. Ikuomola Olamide 170408029
3. Ogunleye Glory. A - 170403054
4. Agbaoye Adedeji Oluwatobi - 180403517
5. Olusanya Oluwatobi Joseph - 170408010
6. Soetan Tolulope David 170403002
7. Anigbogu Mesoma 170403034
8. Adetoki Timilehin 180403502
9. Ganiyu Mujeeb 170403079
10. Momoh Oluwakayode 180403503
ABSTRACT

Integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microelectronic circuit, microchip, or chip is an assembly
of electronic components fabricated as a single unit, in which miniaturized active devices (e.g.,
transistors and diodes) and passive devices (e.g., capacitors and resistors) and their
interconnections are built upon a thin substrate of semiconductor material (typically silicon).

Over the past 60 years, silicon dependent semiconductor technology has grown at a very quick
rate. In the Modern day, it forms the bedrock of a major section of economic, cultural and
scientific activity all over the world.

The report talks about the historical perspective of the development from simplest transistors to
extremely complex integrated circuits. With the invention of the transistor by Shockley, Bardeen
and Brattain, A revolution in electronic circuits started which led to the first integrated circuits
built by Kilby and Noyce. Since then integrated circuits have grown exponentially in complexity
and performance.

The report also highlights the physical principles underlying semiconductor technology. The
purpose is to give a basic understanding of the functioning and manufacturing of integrated
circuits. Therefore, the report presents the basics of digital logic and chip design as well as
fabrication methods such as lithography.

We conclude by referring to possible future developments in integrated circuit technology.

INTRODUCTION

Every digital tool that we use in our daily lifestyles is designed with electric and electronics tasks
circuits. These electric and electronic circuits may be designed with the usage of numerous
technology which includes vacuum tubes, transistor, incorporated circuit or IC, microprocessors,
and microcontroller generations. This technology may be developed through the usage of
discrete electric and digital components, incorporated circuits, microprocessors, and
microcontrollers. We can talk approximately about the quality generation for embedded
structures amongst IC technology and superior IC generation which includes microcontroller IC
generation. But, typically earlier than intending further, we should realize the definition of IC
generation and microcontroller IC generation.

In earlier days, embedded system devices were designed using vacuum tubes which were
cumbersome and more expensive. Then, transistors were invented which reduced and replaced
the bulky expensive vacuum tubes in computers designs. As time and technology advanced, the
transistors usage reduced the size of circuits, as these transistors are smaller, economical,
efficient in performance, reliable, and consumes lesser power. Circuits built using transistors and
other discrete electronic components are called discrete circuits.

The concept of IC technology was introduced in 1958, and it miniaturized a lot of electrical and
electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, laptops, computers, and many other devices. An
integrated circuit can be defined as a set of electronic circuits etched on a small semiconductor
material plate, usually a silicon chip. An IC can be very compact, containing numerous billion
transistors and other components in a very small area.
HISTORY OF IC TECHNOLOGY

The invention of the integrated circuit arose out of the need for more reliable and easy methods
for the manufacture of electronic equipment as well as the need for much smaller assemblies.
The first integrated circuits were patented in 1959 by two Americans-Jack Kilby, an engineer,
and Robert Noyce, a physicist who worked independently.

The idea caught on like wildfire because the integrated circuit had many of the advantages that
had made the transistor attractive earlier. These advantages included small size, high reliability,
low cost, and small power consumption. However, these circuits were difficult to make because
if one component of the chip was faulty, the whole chip was ruined.

Integrated circuits had caused a great revolution in electronics in the 1960s as transistors had
caused in the 1950s. With the transistor well established, people soon started to wonder if several
electronic components could be placed on the same piece of semiconductor. If this could be
accomplished, then considerable improvements in performance and reliability would be obtained
in addition to reductions in size.

One of the main driving forces in the history of the IC came out of the need for improved
military equipment. The Second World War had conclusively proved the value of electronics
beyond all doubt. Radar had been an outstanding success, and many other new uses had been
found for electronic equipment.

The first integrated circuits were based on the idea that the same process used to make clusters of
transistors on silicon wafers might be used to make a functional circuit, such as an amplifier
circuit or a computer logic circuit.

Slices of the semiconductor materials silicon and germanium were already being printed with
patterns, the exposed surfaces etched with chemicals, and then the pattern removed, leaving
dozens of individual transistors, ready to be sliced up and packed individually. But wires, a few
resistors and capacitors might later connect those same transistors to make a circuit.
 First IC Developed Modern-day IC

MANUFACTURING OF IC TECHNOLOGY

In the manufacturing process of IC, electronic circuits with components such as transistors are
formed on the surface of a silicon crystal wafer. Integrated circuits are composed of many
overlapping layers, each defined by photolithography, and normally shown in different colours.
Some layers mark where various dopants are diffused into the substrate (called diffusion layers),
some define where additional ions are implanted (implant layers), some define the conductors
(doped polysilicon or metal layers), and some define the connections between the conducting
layers (via or contact layers). All components are constructed from a specific combination of
these layers.

Semiconductor ICs are fabricated in a planar process which includes four key process steps i.e.
layering, photolithography, diffusion, and ion implantation. The main process steps are
supplemented by doping and cleaning. Mono-crystal silicon wafers are used in most applications,
for special applications, other semiconductors such as gallium arsenide are used. The wafer need
not be entirely silicon. The processes are further explained below.

Layering
The layering step is used to add thin layers to the wafer surface. These layers can be different
materials or a different composition of the same material (mono-crystal silicon or gallium
arsenide are used).

Patterning
Patterning or photolithography is one of the most important steps in wafer fabrication. It refers to
the series of steps to selectively mask or expose portions of the surface for deposition, doping or
etching. It sees the critical dimensions of the devices.  Photolithography is used to mark different
areas of the substrate to be doped or to have polysilicon, insulators or metal (typically aluminium
or copper) tracks deposited on them.

Doping
Doping refers to the process where a specific amount of electrically active ‘impurities’ are
incorporated through openings of the wafer surface. The dopant materials are typically P or
N-type impurities and are needed to form devices like diodes, transistors conductors and other
electronic devices.

Thermal diffusion
As implied by the name, in thermal diffusion, doping is carried out by the movement of the
dopant materials from the surface bulk, by a thermally activated process. The diffusion can be
initiated from dopant in a vapour, liquid or solid source.

TYPES OF IC TECHNOLOGY

Integrated circuits are a complex form of electronics. They come in a wide range of
characteristics, packaging, applications, and complexities. Still, it is possible to somehow
classify various integrated circuits based on some broad classification factors. They include;

● Based on their chip size.

● Based on their signal types.
● Based on their manufacturing technique.

Based on their chip size:

The size of a chip of an integrated circuit is based on an integration scale, which is determined
by the number of transistors or gates embedded in a single chip. On this basis, the following are
the types of Integrated circuits;

● Small scale integration: these are integrated circuits having 10 to 100 transistors or 3 to
30 gates on a single chip. They are used in making flip-flops and logic integrated circuits.
● Medium-scale integration: these are integrated circuits having 100 to 1000 transistors or
30 to 300 gates on a single chip. They are used to make multiplexers, decoders, counters,
and registers.
● Large scale integration: these are integrated circuits having 1000 to 20000 transistors or
300 to 3000 gates on a single chip. They are used to make RAM, ROM, and
microprocessors.
 ● Very large scale integration: these are integrated circuits having 20000 to 50000
transistors or up to 3000 gates on a single chip. They are used to design digital signal
processors (DSP), RISC processors, 16-bit and 32-bit microprocessors, and
microcontrollers.
● Ultra large scale integration: these are integrated circuits having 5000 to Billions of
transistors on a single chip. They are mainly used for designing 64-bit and higher
microprocessors and controllers.

Based on their signal types:

Signal processing is a key characteristic of an electronic system. Some electronic systems

process digital signals and or analogue signals. This characteristic is also applicable to integrated
circuits and such we have the following types of the integrated circuit;

● Analog or Linear ICs: these integrated circuits are designed to process continuous
signals. These are subdivided into linear Integrated Circuits (Linear ICs) and Radio
Frequency Integrated Circuits (RF ICs). These ICs are designed for applications like
operational amplifiers, differential amplifiers, timers, sensors, voltage regulators, etc. The
basic building block of analogue ICs is an operational amplifier.
● Digital ICs – These integrated circuits are designed to process digital signals i.e. 0 or 1,
HIGH or LOW, ON or OFF, where 0 represents 0 volt and 1 represents +5 volts. Digital
ICs are the flagship products of the semiconductor industry. These ICs are designed for
applications like flip-flops, logic gates, counters, registers, multiplexers, decoders,
encoders, microprocessors, and microcontrollers.
● Mixed-signal ICs – These integrated circuits are designed to process combinations of
analogue and digital signals. These are the most complex to design as both analogue and
digital circuits have different power requirements, signal levels, and functioning. These
ICs are designed for applications like analogue-to-digital conversion, digital-to-analogue
conversion, Ethernet, radio, and power management.

Based on their manufacturing technique:

Since IC technology is at the core of electronics, there is a need for it to be produced in variants
to suit different applications. These variants produced using different manufacturing techniques
are types of IC Technology, they include;

● Thin and Thick ICs: These ICs are a combination of integrated and discrete components
in a single package offering a unified function. The passive components are fabricated
on-chip while the active components are connected separately to form a single complete
electronic circuit.
 ● Monolithic ICs: In a monolithic IC, all passive, active and discrete components are
fabricated on a single silicon crystal. These are the most common type of ICs used today.
They are easy to produce and are highly reliable in operation. Though this is the most
widely adopted IC manufacturing technique, it still faces a lot of practical challenges.
Most notable of these challenges are poor insulation, limited power rating, and signal
noise. The different processes for the manufacture of monolithic ICs include P-layer
substrate, N-type epitaxial growth, Silicon dioxide insulation layer, Photolithographic
process for the silicon dioxide, Isolation diffusion, Base diffusion, Emitter diffusion,
Aluminum metallization, scribing and mounting.
● Hybrid/Multi-Chip ICs: In these types of ICs, more than one individual chip is
interconnected in a single package. The active components and passive components are
diffused on the chip and interconnected using metallic connections. These ICs are mainly
used for high-power applications (5W to 50W) or high-performance applications. Hybrid
ICs are larger, less expensive and have a lower speed as compared to monolithic ICs. But
they provide greater flexibility in circuit design than monolithic ICs.

USES OF INTEGRATED CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY

Integrated Circuit (IC) technology has a very wide range of uses which can be attributed to the
peculiar advantages it offers over the more traditional electronic circuits. Inside every electronic
device that utilizes some form of microprocessor control, Integrated Circuits are found, ranging
from gaming consoles, mobile phones, personal computers, portable music players, and many
others. This widespread and large-scale utilization of ICs can be attributed to its sophisticated
and revolutionary design, fitting up to millions of electronic components like resistor, capacitor,
and transistor into a relatively tiny, incredibly light-weight wafer of silicon. In its early stages,
the uses of integrated circuits were fairly limited, since it was difficult to mass-produce at the
time.

Depending on the type of Integrated Circuit being discussed, ICs are used in different devices.
These types are the Linear (analogue) ICs and the Digital ICs.

Linear Integrated Circuits are used in the following, among many others:
● Power amplifiers
● Small-signal amplifiers
● Operational amplifiers
● Microwave amplifiers
● RF and IF amplifiers
● Voltage comparators
 ● Multipliers
● Radio receivers
● Voltage regulators

On the other hand, Digital integrated circuits are mostly found in computers. As a result of the
fact that their input and output voltages are limited to two levels (High and Low i.e., Binary),
these integrated circuits are also referred to as Switching Circuits. Their uses include:

● Flip-flops
● Logic gates
● Timers
● Counters
● Multiplexers
● Calculator chips
● Memory chips
● Clock chips
● Microprocessors
● Microcontrollers
● Temperature sensors
CONCLUSION

That revolution is underway. Integrated circuits have made our lives easier in several ways.
Millions of occupations have been produced in the microelectronics sector, which was founded
on integrated circuits. Computers that used to occupy up the space the size of a home have
shrunk in size, availability, and cost, making them accessible to practically everybody. Machines
operate cleaner and more effectively, medical technology saves lives, and banks all over the
globe exchange money via electronic networks.

We swiftly adapted to the microelectronics revolution. Washing machines, digital readouts and
watches, a baseball scoreboard, a barcode scanner on your groceries, and a collar that allows
only your cat to enter and exit its catflap are just a few of the everyday applications of integrated
circuits that we overlook.

Microelectronics is mostly about communication and ever-increasing volumes of it. And the
capacity of integrated circuits to acquire and organize information has rewritten the attribute,
who controls information, who has exposure to it, how much it costs, and what people do with it
are all concerns that have a significant influence on how we live our personal and social
activities.
The integrated circuit, like the transistor from which it arose, has completely unexpected
consequences. It is suggested that there are limitations to how far nanotechnology can go, yet for
the time being, gadgets are still downsizing. One example is nanoelectromechanical systems, a
speck-sized mix of machines and electronics that combines the power of computers to think and
machines to perform things. Their potential is virtually unexplored because they are still mostly
at the laboratory prototype stage. However, microelectronic gadgets aren't only getting smaller.
Power electronics use larger and larger transistors—about the size of a postage stamp—to
manage increasing quantities of electrical power, such as regulating electric motors.

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