The silicon chip can be simply defined as a wafer of silicon which has an integrated circuit built upon it. This includes miniaturized active devices such as transistors and diodes and passive devices such as capacitors and resistors. Unquestionably since it's inception back in 1959, the chip has become one of mankind's most important inventions and it's widespread use over a vast number of various applications, from simple tasks such as traffic control, right through to flying of aircraft and providing powerful medical imaging makes it without doubt one of man's greatest findings.
The Silicon Chip
Typical Silicon Wafers
The silicon chip has it's origins in the invention of the transistor by William Shockley in 1947. In 1958 Robert Noyce of Fairfield Semiconductor Corporation and Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments independently thought of a way to further reduce the size of a circuit by placing very thin strips of metal on the same piece of material as their devices. This technique allowed for literally thousands of transistors to be placed on a single layer of material the size of a pea.
The latest silicon chips are so small and powerful and as a comparison, the modern home computer systems are many times more powerful than the room full of huge computers NASA used during the first Moon landing. Millions of transistors can now be integrated into the tiny chips.
The latest silicon chips are so small and powerful and as a comparison, the modern home computer systems are many times more powerful than the room full of huge computers NASA used during the first Moon landing. Millions of transistors can now be integrated into the tiny chips.