Microelectronic components definitions

Table 15.1 provides definitions of microelectronic components. The main cost of a microelectronic component is determined by the area of silicon occupied. Passive components such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors are hard to shrink despite teehnological progress to miniaturize them. The more effective strategy has been to replace the passive components with active transistors that are now used for almost all functions. Effort has been focused on the miniaturization of transistors. 

Microelectronic devices are found in appliances of almost every description, and projections unsurprisingly show an industry that is likely to continue to grow in the future [3]. For the purposes of this chapter, the electronics industry will be taken to encompass (1) the manufacture of computer chips and other electronic components, (2) the manufacture of printed circuit boards and (3) the assembly and packaging processes that bring the two together. Clearly, therefore, this arbitrary definition embraces the manufac-... 

---