What is a chip?

　　A chip, also known as a microcircuit, microchip, or integrated circuit, is a small piece of silicon containing an integrated circuit. It is often a component of computers or other electronic devices. Chips are a general term for semiconductor components and are the carriers of integrated circuits (ICs), divided into wafers. A silicon wafer is a small piece of silicon containing an integrated circuit, which is a component of computers or other electronic devices.

　 　What is a semiconductor?

　　A semiconductor is a material whose conductivity at room temperature lies between that of a conductor and an insulator. Semiconductors have wide applications in radios, televisions, temperature measurement, etc. For example, diodes are devices made of semiconductors. Semiconductors are materials whose electrical conductivity can be controlled, ranging from insulators to conductors. Semiconductors are of immense importance, both technologically and economically. Most electronic products today, such as computers, mobile phones, or digital recorders, are closely related to semiconductors. Common semiconductor materials include silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide, with silicon being the most commercially influential of all semiconductor materials. Matter exists in various forms, including solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. We usually call materials with poor conductivity, such as coal, artificial crystals, amber, and ceramics, insulators. Metals with good conductivity, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and aluminum, are called conductors. You can simply call the material between conductors and insulators a semiconductor.

　 　What is an integrated circuit?

　　An integrated circuit (IC) is a miniature electronic device or component. Using a certain process, the transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and other components and interconnections required in a circuit are integrated and fabricated on a small piece or several small pieces of semiconductor wafers or dielectric substrates, and then packaged in a package to become a miniature structure with the required circuit function; all components are structured as a whole, enabling electronic components to move towards miniaturization, low power consumption, intelligence, and high reliability. It is represented by the letters "IC" in the circuit. The most widely used in today's semiconductor industry is silicon-based integrated circuits. It is a new type of semiconductor device developed in the late 1950s and 1960s. It is made through semiconductor manufacturing processes such as oxidation,

　　Using photolithography, diffusion, epitaxy, aluminum evaporation, and other processes, the semiconductors, resistors, capacitors, and other components required to constitute a circuit with a certain function, as well as the connecting wires between them, are all integrated onto a small silicon wafer, and then the electronic components are soldered to the package. The packaging shell has various forms, such as round shell type, flat type, or dual in-line type. Integrated circuit technology includes chip manufacturing technology and design technology, mainly reflected in processing equipment, processing technology, packaging and testing, mass production, and design innovation capabilities.

　 　What is the difference between a chip and an integrated circuit?

　　A chip is a chip, generally referring to something visible to the naked eye or invisible to the foot, but clearly square and full of many small feet. However, chips also include various types of chips, such as basebands and voltage converters.

　　Processors, on the other hand, emphasize function more, referring to the processing unit, which can be an MCU, CPU, etc.

　　The scope of integrated circuits is much broader. Even if some resistors, capacitors, and diodes are integrated together, it may be an analog signal conversion chip or a logic control chip, but in general, this concept is more inclined to the underlying things.

　　An integrated circuit is an electronic circuit in which active and passive components and their interconnections are fabricated together on a semiconductor or insulating substrate, forming a tightly connected and internally interconnected electronic circuit. Integrated circuits can be divided into three main branches: semiconductor integrated circuits, thin-film integrated circuits, and hybrid integrated circuits. A chip is a general term for semiconductor components and is the carrier of integrated circuits (ICs), divided into wafers.

　　 What is the relationship and difference between semiconductor integrated circuits and semiconductor chips?

　　A chip is a short form of integrated circuit. In fact, the real meaning of the word chip refers to a small, large semiconductor chip inside the integrated circuit package, which is also called a die. Strictly speaking, chips and integrated circuits are not interchangeable. Integrated circuits are made using semiconductor technology, thin-film technology, and thick-film technology. Any circuit with a certain function, after miniaturization, and then made into a certain packaged circuit form, can be called an integrated circuit. A semiconductor is a substance between a good conductor and a non-good conductor (or insulator).

　　A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a semiconductor chip and peripheral related circuits.

　　 Semiconductor integrated circuit

　　A semiconductor integrated circuit integrates transistors, diodes, and other active components and resistors, capacitors, and other passive components according to a certain circuit interconnection on a semiconductor chip to perform specific circuit or system functions.

　　Semiconductor chip. A semiconductor device with a certain function is realized by etching and wiring on a semiconductor wafer. It is not only a silicon wafer, but also common semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide (gallium arsenide is toxic, do not be curious to decompose it for some inferior circuit boards) and germanium. Semiconductors have also become popular like cars.

　 　Let's talk about semiconductors first.

　 　Transistor

　　People who have studied analog circuits know that MOSFETs are produced by various ion implantations, and then factories can form MOSFETs on wafers by implanting various ions onto the wafers.

　　 Resistor

　　The resistor formula is known that R is proportional to the length L and inversely proportional to the width S, so it is very simple to make resistors on wafers. Anything that can appear on the wafer, made into a rectangle, is just a resistor. Therefore, there are many types of resistors to choose from on the wafer. Metal resistors, POLY resistors, etc., their accuracy is different, and the size of the resistance value is also different.

　 　Capacitor

　　Two plates can be connected in parallel to form a capacitor, so this is also easy to do. Some parasitic capacitance effects, even MOSFETs, can be used as equivalent capacitance.

　　 Inductor

　　Inductors can also be made, but there's a problem: they consume too much layout area. Since fabrication (sending the completed circuit layout to the factory for processing) is expensive, designers have to compromise, making the inductors external to the chip, or finding other solutions. The components are connected using metal interconnects; the entire chip has multiple metal layers.

　　 Packaging

　　The entire etched circuit is encapsulated in plastic. Inside, there is silicon, implanted ions, metals, etc., with input and output pins brought out—this is the chip you see.