L-17: Integrated Circuits & Moore's Law

In this period, computers were built from individual parts called discrete components, that were wired together by hand:

• 1900-1920

• 1920-1940

• 1940-1960

• 1960-1980

• 1980-200

The Tyranny of Numbers represents the computer-building problem that...

• Adding more components creates vastly increased complexity

• Calculating larger numbers requires vastly increased electricity

• Displaying larger numbers requires vastly larger screens

• Building better computers requires vastly more expensive components.

The ENIAC computer contained 17,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 7,000 diodes, all connected by this many hand-soldiered connections:

• 5,000

• 50,000

• 500,000

• 5,000,000

• 50,000,000

Robert Noyce invented this in July 1959:

• Vacuum tube

• Transistor

• Integrated Circuit

• Microcomputer

• Printed Circuit Board

Transistors, compared to vacuum tubes, are...

• smaller

• faster

• more reliable

• cheaper

Integrated circuits today are made of:

• Germanium

• Silicon

• Boron

• Antimony

Printed Circuit Boards were better than individual transistors because they could be...

• mass produced

• built by hand

• made out of plastic

• insulated

The process of etching printed circuit boards using light is called

• Photolithography

• Offset Photography

• Offset lithography

• Lithophotography

Photolithography can create:

• resistors

• capacitors

• wires to connect components

• vacuum tubes

Photolithography uses light and acid to...

• deposit new material

• clear away the unwanted materials

• cut the silicon into small pieces

• alter chemical properties