Very-large-scale integration

Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) is the fabrication of integrated circuits containing thousands to billions of electronic components on a single semiconductor chip. It combines dense device fabrication with methods for designing and interconnecting complex circuits.

Photolithography: A process that uses patterned light to transfer geometric features onto a photosensitive material. It defines the tiny patterns used to build devices and wires on each chip layer.
Semiconductor device: An electronic component whose operation depends on the electrical properties of a semiconductor. VLSI integrates vast numbers of semiconductor devices into one chip.
Jack Kilby: An American electrical engineer who demonstrated an integrated circuit at Texas Instruments in 1958. His demonstration established the integrated-circuit idea that VLSI later scaled dramatically.
Microprocessor: A processor whose central processing functions are implemented on one integrated circuit. VLSI made it practical to place increasingly capable processors on single chips.
Dennard scaling: A scaling rule predicting that transistor dimensions and voltage could shrink while maintaining roughly constant power density. Its breakdown explains why continued transistor scaling no longer guarantees lower power per chip area.
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor: A circuit technology that uses paired p-type and n-type metal–oxide–semiconductor transistors. CMOS enables dense, low-static-power logic and dominates modern VLSI.
Silicon: A chemical element widely used as the semiconductor material in integrated circuits. Most VLSI chips are fabricated in silicon wafers.
Robert Noyce: An American engineer who developed a practical planar integrated-circuit approach using silicon and metal interconnections. His planar method helped make complex, manufacturable chip integration possible.
Dynamic random-access memory: A volatile memory that stores each bit as charge in a capacitor controlled by a transistor. Dense VLSI fabrication enabled large-capacity memory chips.
Power density: The rate of energy use or dissipation per unit area or volume. Heat from dense switching circuits limits achievable performance and integration.

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