Microchips are examples of integrated circuits—chips of semiconducting material whose surfaces contain billions of circuit components wired together.
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Before 1958, these components were fabricated separately before manual assembly, introducing human error, delays, and higher costs. The invention of the IC laid the foundation for automated manufacturing, miniaturization, and improvements to speed and energy efficiency.
Released in 1989 for $950, the chip contained over a million transistors on a piece of silicon the size of a postage stamp, much less packed than today’s chips. The layering of components makes the chip resemble a network of structures—not unlike a city—when zoomed in.
Applying their blanket-weaving skills, over 1,000 Navajo women in New Mexico were hired to connect circuit components in intricate patterns using a microscope. Outside Boston, “rope mothers” at the Raytheon facility wove the AGC’s core memory using threaded metal wires.
Each type can be further divided based on application, technology, and integration level. Digital ICs are used in computer memories and microprocessors, while analog ICs process continuous signals within sensors, including temperature, light, and sound.
Explore the protocols in place to ensure clean rooms have no dust to jeopardize the integrity of silicon wafers as they are transformed into working microchips. Layering, photolithography, etching, and chemical vapor deposition are shown alongside digital visualizations.
Small amounts of voltage can allow or block the flow of electrons across a transistor made from modified layers of semiconducting materials. The conducting (1) and insulating (0) states can be quickly modified as binary code is processed in a computer system.
The nonstop operation of fabrication plants, which takes months to manufacture a wafer of hundreds of integrated circuits, strains local resources and generates significant chemical waste. Much of the electricity consumed is used to maintain clean room conditions within plants.
A high-energy laser is fired at molten tin droplets, turning them into plasma that releases the ultraviolet light needed to burn the wafer's photoresist layer. A mask controls what parts of the wafer are etched for subsequent chemical processing.
Australian start-up Cortical Labs unveiled CL1, a hybrid chip designed to help scientists study brain function in real-time. The 800,000 lab-grown neurons on the chip are kept viable for six months via a built-in life support system.
Each switch is assigned a zero or a one based on whether it is open or closed, and logic gates are built from these switches that let the system perform mathematical operations. Modern software builds upon these operations to perform increasingly complex tasks.
Since the time our ancient human relatives began using stone tools to perform tasks, humans have harnessed scientific knowledge and new technologies to advance our ability to feed ourselves, increase our health, expand the boundaries of our knowledge, and much more. From artificial intelligence and quantum computing, to optimizing the human body in pursuit of a long and healthy life, and much more—learn about these topics and more with our smart-but-digestible overviews and expert-curated resources.