How are semiconductors used to make integrated circuits?
The process by which a semiconductor becomes an integrated circuit (IC) is called fabrication in the industry. Semiconductors are special in that small amounts of doping atoms (usually atoms from the III or V columns of the periodic table, but it depends on the semiconductors) can change the conductivity of the semiconductor by a very large amount. These regions of different conductivity are then controlled with “gates” that are printed on the semiconductor using a printing process called photolithography, This forms the transistors or switches of the IC. The transistors are then all connected together by building up interconnect layers by depositing insulators and metals, and the defining the wiring with photolithography.
