Very-large-scale integration

Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) is the process of creating an integrated circuit (IC) by combining thousands of transistors into a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor is a VLSI device. Before the introduction of VLSI technology most ICs had a limited set of functions they could perform. An electronic circuit might consist of a CPU, ROM, RAM and other glue logic. VLSI lets IC designers add all of these into one chip.

History

During the mid-1920s, several inventors attempted devices that were intended to control current in solid-state diodes and convert them into triodes. Success did not come until after WWII, during which the attempt to improve silicon and germanium crystals for use as radar detectors led to improvements in fabrication and in the understanding of quantum mechanical states of carriers in semiconductors. Then scientists who had been diverted to radar development returned to solid-state device development. With the invention of transistors at Bell Labs in 1947, the field of electronics shifted from vacuum tubes to solid-state devices.