Silicon earth : introduction to the microelectronics and nanotechnology revolution

We are in the swirling center of the most life-changing technological revolution the Earth has ever known. In only 60 years, an eye-blink of human history, a single technological invention has launched the proverbial thousand ships, producing the most sweeping and pervasive set of changes ever to wash over humankind; changes that are reshaping the very core of human existence, on a global scale, at a relentlessly accelerating pace. And we are just at the very beginning. Silicon Earth introduces readers with little or no background to the many marvels of microelectronics and nanotechnology, using easy, non-intimidating language, with an intuitive approach using minimal math. The general scientific and engineering underpinnings of microelectronics and nanotechnology are addressed, as well as how this new technological revolution is transforming a broad array of interdisciplinary fields, and civilization as a whole. Special 'widget deconstruction' chapters address the inner workings of ubiquitous micro/nano-enabled pieces of technology such as cell phones, flash drives, GPS, DVDs, and digital cameras.

Author Notes

John D. Cressler received his Ph.D. in applied physics from Columbia University.

He is Professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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Reviews 1

Choice Review

In this unique book, Cressler (Georgia Institute of Technology), displaying his immense and diverse knowledge, demystifies the overwhelming concepts of microelectronics. He discusses technologies as wide-ranging as the cell telephone and Global Positioning System in simple terms, and offers apologies when the mathematics goes beyond the grade-school level. In the end, the reader comes away with an appreciation of large numbers, fast speeds, and small devices. The text begins with an introductory history of communication and information technologies and a discussion of size and speed as it relates to these technologies. The book progresses through semiconductors and transistors to more advanced devices such as micro-electro-mechanical systems, or MEMS. The final chapter addresses societal changes, including developments in education. The biggest problem with a book such as this is to find the appropriate audience. It can certainly not be used to teach microelectronics, nor can someone sit down and read it from cover to cover. However, Silicon Earth will be particularly useful for the advanced student or technical person who already knows much of the relevant material, but is looking for a refreshing perspective and new motivation for caring about all of the numbers and theories. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals; general readers. M. S. Roden emeritus, California State University, Los Angeles

Preface	p. xi
About the Author	p. xv
1 The Communications Revolution	p. 1
1.1 The big picture	p. 1
1.2 The evolution of human communications	p. 4
1.3 Doomsday scenarios	p. 7
1.4 Global information flow	p. 11
1.5 Evolutionary trends: Moore's law	p. 15
1.6 Silicon: The master enabler	p. 20
1.7 Micro/nanoelectronics at the state-of-the-art: 90-nm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology	p. 24
1.8 A parting shot	p. 27
2 A Matter of Scale	p. 29
2.1 The tyranny of numbers	p. 29
2.2 "Seeing" versus "imaging" the infinitesimal	p. 31
2.3 The distance scale of the universe	p. 33
2.4 The micro/nanoelectronics distance scale	p. 35
2.5 The time and frequency scales of micro/nanoelectronics	p. 39
2.6 The temperature and energy scales of micro/nanoelectronics	p. 44
2.7 Seeing is believing?	p. 47
3 Widget Deconstruction #1: Cell Phone	p. 49
3.1 With a broad brush	p. 49
3.2 Nuts and bolts	p. 52
3.3 Where are the integrated circuits and what do they do?	p. 58
4 Innumerable Biographies: A Brief History of the Field	p. 66
4.1 What history can teach us	p. 67
4.2 The uniqueness of microelectronics	p. 68
4.3 The shoulders we stand on	p. 70
4.4 The invention-discovery of the transistor	p. 79
4.5 Newsflash!	p. 88
4.6 How the West was won	p. 89
4.7 The integrated circuit	p. 92
4.8 The rest of the story	p. 94
5 Semiconductors - Lite!	p. 98
5.1 What are semiconductors?	p. 98
5.2 What makes semiconductors so special?	p. 100
5.3 Types of semiconductors	p. 101
5.4 Crystal structure	p. 103
5.5 Energy bands	p. 104
5.6 Electrons and holes	p. 111
5.7 Doping	p. 119
5.8 Drift and diffusion transport	p. 123
5.9 Generation and recombination	p. 130
5.10 Semiconductor equations of state	p. 134
6 Widget Deconstruction #2: USB Flash Drive	p. 136
6.1 With a broad brush	p. 137
6.2 Nuts and bolts	p. 141
6.3 Where are the integrated circuits and what do they do?	p. 153
7 Bricks and Mortar: Micro/Nanoelectronics Fabrication	p. 157
7.1 The IC fabrication facility (aka "the cleanroom")	p. 161
7.2 Crystal growth and epitaxy	p. 165
7.3 Doping: Diffusion, implantation, and annealing	p. 173
7.4 Oxidation and film deposition	p. 179
7.5 Etching and polishing	p. 182
7.6 Photolithography	p. 187
7.7 Metallization and interconnects	p. 192
7.8 Building Mr. Transistor	p. 196
7.9 IC packaging: Wirebonds, cans, DIPs, and flip-chips	p. 201
7.10 Reliability	p. 207
8 Transistors - Lite!	p. 211
8.1 The semiconductor device menagerie	p. 212
8.2 Why are transistors so darn useful?	p. 215
8.3 The pn junction	p. 219
8.4 The BJT	p. 235
8.5 The MOSFET	p. 246
8.6 X-Men transistors	p. 262
9 Microtools and Toys: MEMS, NEMS, and BioMEMS	p. 270
9.1 Micro-intuition and the science of miniaturization	p. 272
9.2 MEMS classifications	p. 275
9.3 A grab bag of MEMS toys	p. 276
9.4 Micromachining silicon	p. 278
9.5 Cool app #1 - MEMS accelerometers	p. 289
9.6 Cool app #2 - MEMS micromirror displays	p. 292
9.7 Cool app #3 - BioMEMS	p. 298
10 Widget Deconstruction #3: GPS	p. 303
10.1 With a broad brush	p. 306
10.2 Nuts and bolts	p. 312
10.3 Where are the integrated circuits and what do they do?	p. 320
11 Let There Be Light: The Bright World of Photonics	p. 326
11.1 Let there be light!	p. 327
11.2 Spectral windows	p. 330
11.3 Getting light in and out of semiconductors	p. 333
11.4 Photodetectors and solar cells	p. 341
11.5 CCD imagers, CMOS imagers, and the digital camera	p. 349
11.6 LEDs, laser diodes, and fiber optics	p. 357
11.7 CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray	p. 380
12 The Nanoworld: Fact and Fiction	p. 387
12.1 Nanotech, nanobots, and gray goo	p. 388
12.2 Say what you mean and mean what you say: Nanotech definitions	p. 394
12.3 Darwinian evolution in microelectronics: The end of the silicon road	p. 396
12.4 Buckyballs, nanotubes, and graphene	p. 401
12.5 Emerging nanoapps	p. 407
13 The Gathering Storm: Societal Transformations and Some Food for Thought	p. 416
13.1 The Internet: Killer app ... with a dark side	p. 418
13.2 E-addictions: E-mail, cell phones, and PDAs	p. 429
13.3 Gaming and aggressive behavior: A causal link?	p. 432
13.4 The human genome, cloning, and bioetbics	p. 434
13.5 The changing face of education	p. 439
13.6 The evolution of social media	p. 441
13.7 E-activism and e-politics	p. 443
13.8 he web we weave: IC environmental impact	p. 445
Appendices
1 Properties of Silicon	p. 451
2 Some Basic Concepts from Physics and Electrical Engineering	p. 452
2.1 Energy	p. 452
2.2 Force and the theory of everything	p. 453
2.3 Electrons, quantum mechanics, and Coulomb's law	p. 454
2.4 Voltage, circuits, field, current, and Ohm's law	p. 455
3 Electronic Circuits, Boolean Algebra, and Digital Logic	p. 457
4 A Grab-Bag Glossary of Useful Techno-Geek Terms and Acronyms	p. 463
Index	p. 469

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