ELECTRONIX 4 US: IC - MICROPROCESSOR

integratedcircuits

Microprocessor is an example of integrated circuit. Integrated Circuits can be found in digital clocks, mobile phones and many other electronic devices. A Simple circuit is made up of diodes, resistors and transistors and an integrated circuit can be said as combination of many other inbuilt circuits in one single chip. Nowadays chip production is based on photolithography.

Before understanding the concept of Integrated Circuits we must know what is a transistor. IC 's are made up of transistors.

Transistors

A device composed of semiconductor material that amplifies a signal or opens or closes a circuit. Invented in 1947 at Bell Labs, transistors have become the key ingredient of all digital circuits, including computers. Today's microprocessors contains tens of millions of microscopic transistors. A Darlington pair is two transistors connected together to give a very high current gain. A transistor consists of three layers of silicon or germanium semiconductor material. There are also Field Effect Transistors which we call FETs but they are different than bipolar junction transistors. We can easily test a transistor through a multi meter. P is for a positive charged layer and N is for a negative charged layer in NPN and PNP Transistors.

Transistor Types

NPN Transistor PNP Transistor

Integrated circuits are used for a variety of devices, including microprocessors, audio and video equipments, and automobiles. Integrated circuits are classified by the number of transistors and other electronic components they contain:

SSI (small-scale integration): Up to 100 electronic components per chip
MSI (medium-scale integration): From 100 to 3,000 electronic components per chip
LSI (large-scale integration): From 3,000 to 100,000 electronic components per chip
VLSI (very large-scale integration): From 100,000 to 1,000,000 electronic components per chip
ULSI (ultra large-scale integration): More than 1 million electronic components per chip

Remember these points to integrate a circuit

or How to Solder a Circuit

IC's can be soldered directly into printed circuit boards, or may put into sockets which have already been soldered into the PCB.

When soldering, make sure that the socket is in the accurate way round and that no pins have been bent underneath the body.

When putting new IC's it is often necessary to bend the pins in slightly, in order to fit it into the PCB.

Transistors Manufacturers Links