Computer Chips Information

Each computer chip is an entire electrical circuit made primarily from a single piece of silicon.

The integrated circuit was developed simultaneously by two different scientists in the 1950s. Every computer chip is an integrated circuit. Since the first integrated circuit was demonstrated in 1958, computer chip technology has been becoming smaller and more complex. Silicon, a common and accessible element, is the main material used for creating these semiconducting integrated circuits.

Integrated Circuit

A computer chip is a very small electrical circuit. An electrical circuit typically has several parts. Conventional electrical circuits may contain transistors, diodes and wires. All these parts take up space. To build smaller devices, electrical circuits had to shrink. A computer chip is an entire electrical circuit made from one small block of silicon. It is also known as an integrated circuit.

History

Advanced electronic devices required electrical circuits with numerous components. Building and connecting these components took up lots of space. In 1958, Jack Kirby, a Texas Instruments engineer, succeeded in making an entire electrical circuit and all its components from one small silicon chip. Robert Noyce, a co-founder of Intel, was working on integrated circuits around the same time as Kirby. He was also successful. Both men are credited with inventing the integrated circuit.

Semiconductor

A conductor conducts electricity, or allows electron to flow freely through it. An insulator does not conduct electricity. A semiconductor can act like a conductor or an insulator. Silicon is a semiconductor. This is why computer chips are made from silicon. By adding different materials to silicon, it can conduct or insulate electricity more efficiently. Having one material react in different ways to electricity is the key to building an integrated circuit. This is how an entire electrical circuit can be made on a single, tiny block of silicon.

Silicon

Silicon was discovered in the 19th century. It is the second most abundant element in the earth's crust and among the most useful. Silicon is a primary component of many building materials, glass and, in its crystalline form, integrated circuits. Silicon's ability to act as a semiconductor and its sheer abundance make it an ideal material for creating computer chips.

Moore's Law

The first integrated circuit was very small, yet fairly simple. More complex circuits would have to be just as small, or smaller, but contain more components. Gordon Moore, a pioneer with computer chip giant Intel, stated that the number of transistors on a computer chip would double every two years. Moore's Law has kept true since 1965, with Intel set to introduce a computer chip with two billion transistors in 2010.

References

• The Official Website of the Nobel Prize: The History of the Intgrated Circuit
• Los Alamos National Labs Chemistry Division: Periodic Table of the Elements
• SiliconFarEast: What is a Semiconductor
• Intel: Moore's Law