Miniaturization

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Battery chargers for successive generations of Apple's iPod

Miniaturization (Br.Eng.: miniaturisation) is the trend to manufacture ever-smaller mechanical, optical, and electronic products and devices. Examples include miniaturization of mobile phones, computers and vehicle engine downsizing. In electronics, the exponential scaling and miniaturization of silicon MOSFETs (MOS transistors) [1] [2] [3] leads to the number of transistors on an integrated circuit chip doubling every two years, [4] [5] an observation known as Moore's law. [6] [7] This leads to MOS integrated circuits such as microprocessors and memory chips being built with increasing transistor density, faster performance, and lower power consumption, enabling the miniaturization of electronic devices. [8] [3]

Contents

Electronic circuits

The history of miniaturization is associated with the history of information technology based on the succession of switching devices, each smaller, faster, and cheaper than its predecessor. [9] During the period referred to as the Second Industrial Revolution (c. 1870–1914), miniaturization was confined to two-dimensional electronic circuits used for the manipulation of information. [10] This orientation is demonstrated in the use of vacuum tubes in the first general-purpose computers. The technology gave way to the development of transistors in the 1950s and then the integrated circuit (IC) approach which followed. [9]

Demonstrating a miniature television device in 1963. Het kleinste TV-apparaat ter wereld, Bestanddeelnr 914-9265 (cropped).jpg
Demonstrating a miniature television device in 1963.

The MOSFET was invented at Bell Labs between 1955 and 1960. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] It was the first truly compact transistor that could be miniaturized and mass-produced for a wide range of uses, [17] due to its high scalability [1] and low power consumption, leading to increasing transistor density. [5] This made it possible to build high-density IC chips, [18] with reduced cost-per-transistor as transistor density increased. [19]

In the early 1960s, Gordon Moore, who later founded Intel, recognized that the ideal electrical and scaling characteristics of MOSFET devices would lead to rapidly increasing integration levels and unparalleled growth in electronic applications. [20] Moore's law, which he described in 1965, and which was later named after him, [21] predicted that the number of transistors on an IC for minimum component cost would double every 18 months.[ contradictory ] [6] [7] In 1974, Robert H. Dennard at IBM recognized the rapid MOSFET scaling technology and formulated the related Dennard scaling rule. [22] [23] Moore described the development of miniaturization during the 1975 International Electron Devices Meeting, confirming his earlier predictions. [19]

By 2004, electronics companies were producing silicon IC chips with switching MOSFETs that had feature size as small as 130 nanometers (nm) and development was also underway for chips a few nanometers in size through the nanotechnology initiative. [24] The focus is to make components smaller to increase the number that can be integrated into a single wafer and this required critical innovations, which include increasing wafer size, the development of sophisticated metal connections between the chip's circuits, and improvement in the polymers used for masks (photoresists) in the photolithography processes. [21] These last two are the areas where miniaturization has moved into the nanometer range. [21]

Other fields

Miniaturization became a trend in the last fifty years and came to cover not just electronic but also mechanical devices. [25] The process for miniaturizing mechanical devices is more complex due to the way the structural properties of mechanical parts change as they are reduced in scale. [25] It has been said that the so-called Third Industrial Revolution (1969 – c. 2015) is based on economically viable technologies that can shrink three-dimensional objects. [10]

In medical technology, engineers and designers have been exploring miniaturization to shrink components to the micro and nanometer range. Smaller devices can have lower cost, be made more portable (e.g.: for ambulances), and allow simpler and less invasive medical procedures. [26]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronics</span> Branch of physics and electrical engineering

Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other electrically charged particles. Electronics is a subfield of physics and electrical engineering which uses active devices such as transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits to control and amplify the flow of electric current and to convert it from one form to another, such as from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) or from analog signals to digital signals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Integrated circuit</span> Electronic circuit formed on a small, flat piece of semiconductor material

An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip, computer chip, or simply chip, is a small electronic device made up of multiple interconnected electronic components such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors. These components are etched onto a small piece of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Integrated circuits are used in a wide range of electronic devices, including computers, smartphones, and televisions, to perform various functions such as processing and storing information. They have greatly impacted the field of electronics by enabling device miniaturization and enhanced functionality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transistor</span> Solid-state electrically operated switch also used as an amplifier

A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify or switch electrical signals and power. It is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semiconductor material, usually with at least three terminals for connection to an electronic circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's terminals controls the current through another pair of terminals. Because the controlled (output) power can be higher than the controlling (input) power, a transistor can amplify a signal. Some transistors are packaged individually, but many more in miniature form are found embedded in integrated circuits. Because transistors are the key active components in practically all modern electronics, many people consider them one of the 20th century's greatest inventions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moore's law</span> Observation on the growth of integrated circuit capacity

Moore's law is the observation that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore's law is an observation and projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empirical relationship linked to gains from experience in production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semiconductor device</span> Electronic component that exploits the electronic properties of semiconductor materials

A semiconductor device is an electronic component that relies on the electronic properties of a semiconductor material for its function. Its conductivity lies between conductors and insulators. Semiconductor devices have replaced vacuum tubes in most applications. They conduct electric current in the solid state, rather than as free electrons across a vacuum or as free electrons and ions through an ionized gas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MOSFET</span> Type of field-effect transistor

In electronics, the metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor is a type of field-effect transistor (FET), most commonly fabricated by the controlled oxidation of silicon. It has an insulated gate, the voltage of which determines the conductivity of the device. This ability to change conductivity with the amount of applied voltage can be used for amplifying or switching electronic signals. The term metal–insulator–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MISFET) is almost synonymous with MOSFET. Another near-synonym is insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CMOS</span> Technology for constructing integrated circuits

Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor is a type of metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) fabrication process that uses complementary and symmetrical pairs of p-type and n-type MOSFETs for logic functions. CMOS technology is used for constructing integrated circuit (IC) chips, including microprocessors, microcontrollers, memory chips, and other digital logic circuits. CMOS technology is also used for analog circuits such as image sensors, data converters, RF circuits, and highly integrated transceivers for many types of communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairchild Semiconductor</span> American integrated circuit manufacturer

Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. was an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1957 as a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument by the "traitorous eight" who defected from Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory. It became a pioneer in the manufacturing of transistors and of integrated circuits. Schlumberger bought the firm in 1979 and sold it to National Semiconductor in 1987; Fairchild was spun off as an independent company again in 1997. In September 2016, Fairchild was acquired by ON Semiconductor.

Semiconductor memory is a digital electronic semiconductor device used for digital data storage, such as computer memory. It typically refers to devices in which data is stored within metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) memory cells on a silicon integrated circuit memory chip. There are numerous different types using different semiconductor technologies. The two main types of random-access memory (RAM) are static RAM (SRAM), which uses several transistors per memory cell, and dynamic RAM (DRAM), which uses a transistor and a MOS capacitor per cell. Non-volatile memory uses floating-gate memory cells, which consist of a single floating-gate transistor per cell.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">PMOS logic</span> Family of digital circuits

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Edholm's law, proposed by and named after Phil Edholm, refers to the observation that the three categories of telecommunication, namely wireless (mobile), nomadic and wired networks (fixed), are in lockstep and gradually converging. Edholm's law also holds that data rates for these telecommunications categories increase on similar exponential curves, with the slower rates trailing the faster ones by a predictable time lag. Edholm's law predicts that the bandwidth and data rates double every 18 months, which has proven to be true since the 1970s. The trend is evident in the cases of Internet, cellular (mobile), wireless LAN and wireless personal area networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electromechanics</span> Multidisciplinary field of engineering

Electromechanics combines processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focuses on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems interact with each other. This process is especially prominent in systems such as those of DC or AC rotating electrical machines which can be designed and operated to generate power from a mechanical process (generator) or used to power a mechanical effect (motor). Electrical engineering in this context also encompasses electronics engineering.

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The first planar monolithic integrated circuit (IC) chip was demonstrated in 1960. The idea of integrating electronic circuits into a single device was born when the German physicist and engineer Werner Jacobi developed and patented the first known integrated transistor amplifier in 1949 and the British radio engineer Geoffrey Dummer proposed to integrate a variety of standard electronic components in a monolithic semiconductor crystal in 1952. A year later, Harwick Johnson filed a patent for a prototype IC. Between 1953 and 1957, Sidney Darlington and Yasuo Tarui proposed similar chip designs where several transistors could share a common active area, but there was no electrical isolation to separate them from each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Field-effect transistor</span> Type of transistor

The field-effect transistor (FET) is a type of transistor that uses an electric field to control the flow of current in a semiconductor. It comes in two types: junction FET (JFET) and metal-oxide-semiconductor FET (MOSFET). FETs have three terminals: source, gate, and drain. FETs control the flow of current by the application of a voltage to the gate, which in turn alters the conductivity between the drain and source.

In semiconductor electronics, Dennard scaling, also known as MOSFET scaling, is a scaling law which states roughly that, as transistors get smaller, their power density stays constant, so that the power use stays in proportion with area; both voltage and current scale (downward) with length. The law, originally formulated for MOSFETs, is based on a 1974 paper co-authored by Robert H. Dennard, after whom it is named.

References

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  4. ↑ Siozios, Kostas; Anagnostos, Dimitrios; Soudris, Dimitrios; Kosmatopoulos, Elias (2018). IoT for Smart Grids: Design Challenges and Paradigms. Springer. p. 167. ISBN   9783030036409.
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  7. 1 2 "Excerpts from A Conversation with Gordon Moore: Moore's Law" (PDF). Intel Corporation. 2005. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2006.
  8. ↑ Sridharan, K.; Pudi, Vikramkumar (2015). Design of Arithmetic Circuits in Quantum Dot Cellular Automata Nanotechnology. Springer. p. 1. ISBN   9783319166889.
  9. 1 2 Sharma, Karl (2010). Nanostructuring Operations in Nanoscale Science and Engineering . New York: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. pp.  16. ISBN   9780071626095.
  10. 1 2 Ghosh, Amitabha; Corves, Burkhard (2015). Introduction to Micromechanisms and Microactuators. Heidelberg: Springer. p. 32. ISBN   9788132221432.
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  13. ↑ KAHNG, D. (1961). "Silicon-Silicon Dioxide Surface Device". Technical memorandum of Bell Laboratories.
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  16. ↑ Lojek, Bo (2007). History of Semiconductor Engineering. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 120. ISBN   9783540342588.
  17. ↑ Moskowitz, Sanford L. (2016). Advanced Materials Innovation: Managing Global Technology in the 21st century. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 165–167. ISBN   9780470508923.
  18. ↑ "Who Invented the Transistor?". Computer History Museum . 4 December 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  19. 1 2 Brock, David; Moore, Gordon (2006). Understanding Moore's Law: Four Decades of Innovation. Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Press. p. 26. ISBN   0941901416.
  20. ↑ Golio, Mike; Golio, Janet (2018). RF and Microwave Passive and Active Technologies. CRC Press. pp. 18–5. ISBN   9781420006728.
  21. 1 2 3 Guston, David (2010). Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. p. 440. ISBN   9781412969871.
  22. ↑ McMenamin, Adrian (April 15, 2013). "The end of Dennard scaling" . Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  23. ↑ Streetman, Ben G.; Banerjee, Sanjay Kumar (2016). Solid state electronic devices. Boston: Pearson. p. 341. ISBN   978-1-292-06055-2. OCLC   908999844.
  24. ↑ Jha, B.B; Galgali, R.K.; Misra, Vibhuti (2004). Futuristic Materials. New Delhi: Allied Publishers. p. 55. ISBN   8177646168.
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  26. ↑ "Micro Moulding and Miniaturisation in MedTech". Micro Systems. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
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