microchip

integrated circuit (IC)

 or microcircuit or chip or microchip

Assembly of microscopic electronic components (transistors, diodes, capacitors, and resistors) and their interconnections fabricated as a single unit on a wafer of semiconducting material, especially silicon. Early ICs of the late 1950s consisted of about 10 components on a chip 0.12 in. (3 mm) square. Very large-scale integration (VLSI) vastly increased circuit density, giving rise to the microprocessor. The first commercially successful IC chip (Intel, 1974) had 4,800 transistors; Intel's Pentium (1993) had 3.2 million, and more than a billion are now achievable.

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microchip

(1) Another term for a microminiaturized integrated circuit (a "chip").

(2) To insert an RFID tag beneath the skin of an animal. It is expected that some day, humans will be microchipped. As bizarre as it may sound, in South America, security experts have explored the possibility of microchipping affluent people so that they can be easily located if they are kidnapped. See RFID.

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microchip

a small piece of semiconductor material carrying many integrated circuits

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microchip [′mī·krō‚chip]

(computer science)

chip