TABLE OF CONTENTS Prof. James E. Morris
State University of New York at Binghamton
Prof. Rao R. Tummala
Georgia Institute of Technology
Define microelectronics
Describe characteristics of semiconductors
Define and describe integrated circuits and their evolution
Describe IC processes
Introduce the System-on-Chip (SOC) concept
Describe the role of IC packaging
Translate the semiconductor roadmap into IC packaging challenges
Integrated circuits (ICs) based on microelectronic devices form the basis of all modern electronic products. Since the invention of the transistor in 1947, electronic products began shifting from vacuum tubes to transistors in the 1950s, and to integrated circuits in the 1960s. These pioneering technology developments formed the basis of large scale integrated (LSI) devices in the 1970s and very large scale integrated devices (VLSI) in the 1980s, paving the way for gigascale integration and the System-on-Chip (SOC) in the 21st century. Every IC has to be packaged before it can be used. Packaging starts where the IC stops. The typical parameters important for IC packaging include I/Os, power and size of the chip. This chapter sets the stage for packaging ICs, eventually leading to all microsystems.
The invention of the transistor in 1947 revolutionized the semiconductor industry as it replaced the usage of vacuum tubes in electronic products and enabled shrinkage in the size of the products considerably. In contrast to the large dimensions of vacuum tubes, the transistor s size was measured in micrometers ( m) and it became the...
