Essential Guide to Semiconductors, The

Essential Guide to Semiconductors, The

by Jim Turley
Released December 2002
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 013046404X

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

  • An up-to-the-minute briefing on the entire semiconductor industry

  • Technology, applications, and markets—explained in English

  • Explains today's state-of-the-art silicon design and manufacturing techniques

  • Contains expert insights from one of the industry's leading analysts and editors

The Essential Guide to Semiconductors is a complete professional's guide to the business andtechnology of semiconductor design and manufacturing. Leading semiconductor industry analystand editor Jim Turley illuminates every facet of the industry, explaining its fast-changingtechnologies, markets, and business models simply, clearly, and without unnecessary jargon.

  • Covers a wide range of semiconductor applications: cellphones, cars, computers, gaming systems, and much more

  • Conceptual enough for laypeople and nontechnical investors—and sufficiently detailed for technical readers

  • Includes a wide range of diagrams and flowcharts to promote understanding

  • Presents accessible explanations of how silicon chips are designed and built

  • Shows how the entire industry fits together, helping readers understand key niches, market segments, and opportunities

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Prentice Hall PTR Essential Guide Series
  3. About Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Running Start
    1. About This Book
    2. Some Words To Know
  6. Semiconductor Family Tree
    1. Semiconductor Family Tree
    2. Simple Analog Components
    3. Advanced Analog Components
    4. A/D and D/A Converters
    5. MEMS
    6. Medium-Scale Digital Chips
    7. Highly Integrated Digital Chips
  7. How Chips Are Designed
    1. Old-Style Design Process
    2. New-Style Design Process
    3. Verifying the Design Works
    4. Using Outside IP
    5. Getting to Tape Out and Film
    6. Current Problems and Future Trends
  8. How Chips Are Made
    1. Clean Rooms and Fabs
    2. Developing Technology: Chips and Photography
    3. Silicon Ingots to Start
    4. Polishing the Wafer Smooth
    5. Building the Layer Cake
    6. Laser Surgery: Etching Away the Transistors
    7. Step and Repeat
    8. Etching Bath
    9. Ready For the Metal Round
    10. Testing Phase I
    11. Bringing Out the Diamonds
    12. Sorting the Fast from the Merely Good
    13. Wrap it Up
    14. How Many Nanometers in a Micron?
    15. Let's Get Small
  9. Business and Markets
    1. Worldwide Production of Semiconductors
    2. Worldwide Consumption of Semiconductors
    3. Military Electronics
    4. The Business of Making Semiconductors
  10. Essential Guide to Microprocessors
    1. Overview of Microprocessors
    2. Microprocessor History and Evolution
    3. What's a Processor Architecture?
    4. Microprocessor Anatomy and Gazetteer
    5. What do 4-Bit, 8-Bit, 16-Bit, and 32-Bit Mean?
    6. Performance, Benchmarks, and Gigahertz
    7. What Is Software?
    8. Choosing Microprocessors
    9. Microprocessor Future Trends
  11. Essential Guide to Memory
    1. Overview of Memory Chips
    2. Nonvolatile ROM
    3. Volatile RAM
    4. Memory Interfaces
    5. Future Memories
  12. Essential Guide to Custom and Configurable Chips
    1. Overview of Custom Chips
    2. Field-Programmable Chips
    3. Custom ASIC Chips
    4. Dynamically Reconfigurable Chips
    5. Intellectual Property Licensing
    6. Future Outlook for Custom Chips
  13. Theory
    1. Digital and Binary Concepts
    2. Gates and Logic Functions
    3. How Transistors Work
    4. About Electrons and Electronics
  14. Standards Bodies and Reference
    1. Standards Bodies and Organizations
    2. Conferences and Trade Shows
    3. Other Resources
  15. Glossary

Product information

  • Title: Essential Guide to Semiconductors, The
  • Author(s): Jim Turley
  • Release date: December 2002
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 013046404X