Source : WordNet®

integrated circuit
     n : a microelectronic computer circuit incorporated into a chip
         or semiconductor; a whole system rather than a single
         component [syn: {microcircuit}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

integrated circuit
     
         (IC, or "chip") A microelectronic
        {semiconductor} device consisting of many interconnected
        transistors and other components.  ICs are constructed
        ("fabricated") on a small rectangle (a "die") cut from a
        Silicon (or for special applications, Sapphire) wafer.  This
        is known as the "substrate".  Different areas of the substrate
        are "doped" with other elements to make them either "p-type"
        or "n-type" and polysilicon or aluminium tracks are etched in
        one to three layers deposited over the surface.  The die is
        then connected into a package using gold wires which are
        welded to "pads", usually found around the edge of the die.
     
        Integrated circuits can be classified into analogue, digital
        and hybrid (both analogue and digital on the same chip).
        Digital integrated circuits can contain anything from one to
        millions of {logic gates} - {inverters}, {AND}, {OR}, {NAND}
        and {NOR} gates, {flip-flops}, {multiplexors} etc. on a few
        square millimeters.  The small size of these circuits allows
        high speed, low power dissipation, and reduced manufacturing
        cost compared with board-level integration.
     
        The first integrated circuits contained only a few
        {transistors}.  Small Scale Integration ({SSI}) brought
        circuits containing transistors numbered in the tens.  Later,
        Medium Scale Integration ({MSI}) contained hundreds of
        transistors.  Further development lead to Large Scale
        Integration ({LSI}) (thousands), and VLSI (hundreds of
        thousands and beyond).  In 1986 the first one {megabyte} {RAM}
        was introduced which contained more than one million
        transistors.
     
        LSI circuits began to be produced in large quantities around
        1970 for computer main memories and pocket calculators.  For
        the first time it became possible to fabricate a {CPU} or even
        an entire {microprocesor} on a single integrated circuit.  The
        most extreme technique is {wafer-scale integration} which uses
        whole uncut wafers as components.
     
        [Where and when was the term "chip" introduced?]
     
        (1997-07-03)