Microchip Technology
Microchips, also known as integrated circuits, are the little pieces of semi-conductive material that make most of your information-storing electronics tick. Without them, the computer would not have gone past the level of being a simple calculator.
Significance
Microchips have made it possible to turn electricity into information. The large amount of transistors contained inside them signal "on" and "off" states which can represent a zero or a one in binary language.
History
On Feb. 6, 1959, the first chip was patented as an organization of semiconductor material in which all the circuits are integrated, hence the expression "integrated circuit." Jack Kilby from Texas Instruments was given credit for the idea and received the Nobel Prize in 2000 for the invention of integrated circuits.
Development
As microchips developed, the size of their transistors kept getting smaller and smaller. In 2009, the Nehalem architecture microprocessor chip was introduced into the market which had 45 nanometer transistors (a human hair is about 2000 nanometers wide).
Potential
In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore basically predicted that the amount of transistors in a given amount of space in a microchip doubles every two years. Although this law is not exactly followed, the idea that transistors can shrink even more is conceivable because of this concept.
Features
Integrated circuits in microchips can be structured in a way that can make a computer not only store information but process it. Microprocessors are microchips that allow computers to "think." They are basically small chips that execute commands and perform actions based on the input that is given.
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