INTEGRATED CIRCUITS1. INTRODUCTION An integrated circuit also known as an integrated circuit or chip, is a set of electronic circuits and components containing many diodes, transistors and resistors etc. Manufactured on a small plate of semiconductor material such as silicon. It is actually a miniaturized form of electronic circuit. It is called an "integrated circuit" because all the components and circuits, including the base material, are etched into a small piece of semiconductor plate. It is not like an assembled device where the components are made independently and then joined together. Integrated circuits have revolutionized today's technological world. From ordinary wristwatches to PCs, from children's electronic toys to robots, the use of integrated circuits is widespread everywhere. In a nutshell we can say that today every electronic device contains integrated circuits.2. BIRTH OF ICEExperimental discoveries led to the knowledge that semiconductor devices could work much better than vacuum tubes. Then, with the advancement of technology, fabrications of semiconductor devices have been carried out; a large number of tiny transistors were embedded in a small chip. This was the birth of the IC. The first integrated circuits were produced independently by the two scientists Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce around the 1960s. Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments made a "solid circuit" using germanium (Ge). And Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semisonductor; created a 'unitary circuit' using silicon (Si).3. ADVANTAGES OF IC Low cost and high performance High reliability High processing speed Reduce the size of devices Gadgets become easier to use Hassle-free service is provided4. INTEGRATION LEVELS Depending on the no. of integrated components on a single... medium of paper... applied the input signal. Currently most linear integrated circuits are operational amplifiers and are used in amplifiers, active filters, integrators, differentiators and other applications. DIGITAL ICs:: Digital integrated circuits are a complete network in themselves and therefore require only power, input and exit. They are used to form complex circuits such as counters, gates, multiplexers etc. Digital circuits only work at two levels HIGH and LOW, in binary system we call it 0 and 1 (0 for LOW and 1 for HIGH). They can be easily designed and are produced in large quantities.6. MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUE7. DEVICE IDENTIFICATIONThere are four things you need to know to identify an integrated circuit marked on its face. The four things include the type of device, the identifying initials of the manufacturer, the date code, i.e. the year and week of production.