MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS & VLSI
This area relates to the use of semiconductor materials to create circuits and systems. Several subfields within this area are:
- Device physics
- Fabrication of integrated circuits
- Analog, digital and mixed analog/digital integrated circuit design
- Discrete component circuit design (power and high-frequency design)
- VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated) circuit design
The developments and advancements in the field on integrated circuits have made the personal computer possible. From the early 1960s when a single transistor was placed on a chip (discrete component) to the present time when 10 million transistors can be fabricated on a chip, the cost of the circuits has decreased incredibly. At the same time, the performance of these integrated circuits has continued to improve.
Not only has the integrated circuit led to better and less costly computers, it is also used in the design of instrumentation circuits, hand calculators, automotive circuits such as automatic braking systems, communication circuits such as cellular phones and digital TV, and medical eletronics. Both analog and digital integrated circuits are now widely used in the engineering industry.
The demand for circuit and system designers is quite high at the present time. You may specialize in any of the following subfields of microelectronics by completing the core requirements for the electrical engineering program and then
taking classes listed under the subfields of interest.
- Microelectronic circuit design
- Device physics
- Fabrication of integrated circuits
Current Information
Suggested Courses for Microelectronic circuit design.
