Integrated Circuits

Integrated circuits are one of the indispensable circuit elements of electronics in many electronic devices that we use in our daily lives. it has its origin in the invention of transistors in 1947 by William B. Shockley and his team at AT&T Bell laboratories. The team found that under the right circumstances, electrons would form a barrier at the surface of certain crystals, and they learned to control the flow of electricity (flow of charges) through the crustal by manipulating the barrier.

They created a device that could perform certain electrical operations such as signal amplification which is called a transistor from the combination of words of the transfer and resistor. Solid-state electronics is the name given to the field of research into how to make electronic devices out of solid materials. They are standard ICs available that works as power regulator, amplifiers, simple signal processor, and so on. ICs range from 8-pin to 16-pin packages in which the common package has two rows of pins, A 20-pin DIL package will have 2 rows of ten pins. Bigger integrated circuits or chips are used for complex digital applications such as oriented IC.

What is an Integrated Circuit (IC)?

Integrated Circuit (IC) also called micro electric chip, microchip, or chip. It is a group of electronic circuits placed on a metal plate designed with semiconductor materials

An IC is the fundamental building block of all modern electronic circuits. ICs are made up of several components such as R, C, L, diodes & transistors as active devices and capacitors & resistors as passive devices, and their interconnections are built up on a thin substrate of semiconductor material typically silicon. An IC can function as an amplifier, oscillator, timer, counter, logic gate, microcontroller, or microprocessor.

An integrated circuit (IC) can consist of thousands or even millions of:

• Transistors
• Resistors
• Capacitors
• Diodes

One common example of a modern-day IC is a computer processor, which typically contains millions or billions of transistors, capacitors, logic gates, etc., connected together to form a complex digital circuit. Although the processor is an IC, not all ICs are processors. so in this article, we will go through what is ICs, the types of ICs, the pros & cons of ICs, and so on. In simple words, Integrated Circuits are the Integration of active components(transistors) and passive components(resistors, capacitors) into a silicon chip.

Classification of IC

There are two types of integrated circuits:

• Linear integrated circuits (Operational-Amplifier)
• Digital integrated circuits.

Operational Amplifier (Op-Amp)

Op-Amp is a fundamental block of electronic functioning that is used to construct all the electronic circuits. It was first used by John R. Ragazzini in 1947. It is a direct coupled high gain amplifier and it consists of one or more different amplifiers followed by a level translator and output stage. Op-Amp is a versatile device that can amplify AC as well as DC input. It mainly consists of multistage amplifiers which get into a number of amplifier stages interconnected to each other in a complex manner.

Manufacturing of Integrated Circuits

At first N-type semiconductor is taken and the photolithography process is used. In this technique a layer of silicon dioxide insulator is coated over it then a thin layer of photo-resistant material is placed over So2 after this masking is done UV radiation is made incident on it whenever the light is incident over the surface of photoresistive-material it becomes hard and there is no chemical reaction takes place.

Next Silicon dioxide is removed with the help of a process called Etching, lastly, the required impurities are added the process is several times to obtain different geometrics required to complete the required chip circuit design, and the internal connection between components is made by passing aluminum vapor and then the chip is enclosed with a protective plastic case.

Finally with the help of thin aluminum leads the connectors are taken out and this is how the standard package of IC is manufactured and the IC used in this particular manufacturing process is Monolithic IC.

Functions of Integrated Circuit

The main function of the integrated circuit is that it can perform high-level tasks such as amplification, signal processing, and digital communications etc., the function of IC is cost reduction, miniaturization, and efficiency & performance enhancement among all other circuits.

In terms of Cost reduction, IC provides a cheap alternative to requiring a large amount of semiconductor parts and electrical parts mounted on a circuit board through soldering.

The performance and efficiency enhancement function in IC is made possible by implementing complex circuit networks. For instance, when the sound cards in PCs were just introduced manufacturers decided to build medium-scale integration circuits (MSI) that support system sound factors and applications and the main performance enhancement function is low power optimization in turn results in high efficiency.

Types of Integrated Circuits

Depending on its input signal type, an integrated circuit can be classified as an analog integrated circuit, a digital integrated circuit, or a mixed circuit.

1. Digital Integrated Circuits

• Also called Computer and Logistics circuit.
• The circuit is located either in the on-state area or in the off-state area and is not located in between.
• Examples such as AND gate, OR gate, and Flip Flops.

2. Analog Integrated Circuits

• Analog Circuits are also known as linear circuits. These analog circuits have continuously variable inputs.
• These inputs are also known as analog signals. The output signal then comes out as a linear function of the input signal.
• It is used in audio-frequency or radio-frequency amplifiers.

3. Mixed Circuits

It is a combination of analog and digital design principles. They function as digital-to-analog converters, analog-to-digital converters, and clock or timing ICs.

4. THT (Through Hole Technology)

In this circuit, THT is to be soldered punched cards. These ICs can be easily used by mounting on a breadboard.

5. SMD (Surface Mound Device)

In this circuit, SMD is to be soldered on a circuit board. These ICs are much smaller compared to THD ICs because they are designed for use on circuit boards produced on machines.

6. Linear integrated circuits (Operational-Amplifier)

The relationship between the input and output of the circuit should be linear.

Advantages of Integrated Cricuits

The advantages of integrated circuits include the following.

• Small size.
• Power consumption is less.
• Batch Processing results in cost reduction.
• Improves System Reliability
• Less weight.
• More consistent.
• It operates at high temperatures.
• Better Functional Performance.

Disadvantages of Integrated Circuits

The disadvantages of integrated circuits include the following.

• It is very Delicate.
• The power consumption is limited to 10 watts
• The indicators/coils cannot be made.
• A low-temperature coefficient cannot be achieved.
• It handles a limited amount of power.
• Cannot operate at high voltage operation.

Applications of Integrated Circuits

• Counters
• Timers
• Calculator Chips
• Microcontrollers
• Clock chip
• Memory chips
• Temperature sensors

Future of Integrated Circuits

As we know IC is the heart of modern technology as we look into the future several indicators and trends are beginning to emerge first, Miniaturization of ICs is expected to grow which is often referred to as Moores’s law which states that the size of the transistor on any chip will become half approximately two years once.

Secondly, Integrating ICs with Artificial Intelligence (AI) becoming increasingly prevalent that is AI has the potential ability to revolutionize the operations and functioning of IC and that could lead to improvement in efficiency and performance.

Thirdly, smart devices are interconnected nowadays which enables the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) which increases the demand for ICs.

FAQs on Integrated Circuits

Q.1: Which process is involved in the manufacturing of Integrated Circuits?

Answer:

Photolithography is a process involved in manufacturing of ICs. A pure crystal of silicone, called the substrate, is placed in a chamber. A thin layer of silicone dioxide is deposited on the substrate, followed by another chemical layer, called a resist.

Q.2: Name any two functions of Integrated Circuits.

Answer:

Ics serves as microprocessor, amplifier and oscillator. These are the main functions of Integrated Circuits.

Q.3: What are all the elements present in ICs?

Answer:

Diodes, resistors, transistors, capacitors, and conducting pathways are all parts of an IC. They are also connected by conducting pathways.