Source: ICisC Nanjing Integrated Circuit Industry Service Center
A chip, also known as a microcircuit or microchip, is a silicon wafer that contains an integrated circuit. It is very small and often part of a computer or other electronic devices. A chip is a general term for semiconductor component products and serves as the carrier of integrated circuits (IC), which are made from wafer slicing. A silicon wafer is a tiny piece of silicon that contains an integrated circuit and is part of a computer or other electronic devices.
A semiconductor is a material that has electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator at room temperature. Semiconductors are widely used in radios, televisions, and temperature measurement. For example, diodes are devices made from semiconductors. The importance of semiconductors is immense from both technological and economic development perspectives. Most electronic products today, such as computers, mobile phones, or digital recorders, have core components that are closely related to semiconductors. Common semiconductor materials include silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide, with silicon being the most commercially significant among them.
Materials exist in various forms: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. We usually refer to materials with poor conductivity, such as coal, artificial crystals, amber, and ceramics, as insulators. In contrast, metals with good conductivity, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and aluminum, are called conductors. Materials that fall between conductors and insulators are simply termed semiconductors.
What is an Integrated Circuit
An integrated circuit (IC) is a type of miniature electronic device or component. It is made using certain processes to interconnect transistors, resistors, capacitors, and inductors required in a circuit onto a small piece or several small pieces of semiconductor wafers or dielectric substrates, then encapsulated in a housing to form a microstructure with the desired circuit functionality; all components are structurally integrated, marking a significant step towards miniaturization, low power consumption, intelligence, and high reliability in electronic components. It is represented in circuits by the letters “IC”. The inventors of the integrated circuit are Jack Kilby (for germanium-based ICs) and Robert Noyce (for silicon-based ICs).
Most applications in the current semiconductor industry use silicon-based integrated circuits, which are a new type of semiconductor device developed in the late 1950s and 1960s. It involves semiconductor manufacturing processes such as oxidation, photolithography, diffusion, epitaxy, and aluminum evaporation to integrate all semiconductor, resistor, capacitor, and their connecting wires needed to form a functional circuit onto a small silicon wafer, which is then soldered and encapsulated in a housing. The packaging can take various forms, such as round, flat, or dual in-line packages.
Integrated circuit technology includes chip manufacturing and design technology, mainly reflected in the capabilities of processing equipment, processing technology, packaging testing, mass production, and design innovation.
What is the difference between a chip and an integrated circuit?
Different emphases in expression.
A chip is generally a visible piece that has many small pins or is a square piece that is clearly visible, but it also includes various types of chips, such as baseband, voltage conversion, etc.
Processors emphasize functionality, referring to the unit that performs processing, such as MCU, CPU, etc.
Integrated circuits have a much broader scope; integrating resistors, capacitors, and diodes together counts as an integrated circuit. It could be a chip for analog signal conversion or a chip for logic control, but overall, this concept leans more towards the underlying components.
An integrated circuit refers to active devices, passive components, and their interconnections made on a semiconductor substrate or insulating substrate, forming a tightly connected and internally related electronic circuit. It can be divided into three main branches: semiconductor integrated circuits, film integrated circuits, and hybrid integrated circuits.
A chip (chip) is a general term for semiconductor component products. It serves as the carrier of integrated circuits (IC), which are made from wafer slicing.
What is the relationship and difference between semiconductor integrated circuits and semiconductor chips?
A chip is a short term for an integrated circuit, and the true meaning of the term chip refers to a small semiconductor chip inside the integrated circuit package, also known as a die. Strictly speaking, chips and integrated circuits cannot be used interchangeably. An integrated circuit is made using semiconductor technology, thin-film technology, and thick-film technology; anything that miniaturizes a circuit with specific functionality under a certain packaging form can be called an integrated circuit.A semiconductor is a material that lies between good conductors and poor conductors (or insulators).
Semiconductor integrated circuits include semiconductor chips and related peripheral circuits.
It refers to semiconductor devices that can achieve certain functions made by etching and wiring on semiconductor materials. Not only silicon chips but also common materials include gallium arsenide (which is toxic, so be cautious when decomposing inferior circuit boards), germanium, and other semiconductor materials. Semiconductors also follow trends like automobiles. In the 1970s, American companies like Intel dominated the dynamic random-access memory (D-RAM) market. However, with the emergence of large computers, Japanese companies led the way in high-performance D-RAM in the 1980s.
Semiconductor Integrated Circuit
Semiconductor integrated circuits are made by integrating transistors, diodes, and other active components along with resistors and capacitors according to a certain circuit interconnection on a single semiconductor wafer to complete specific circuit or system functions.
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