Integrated Circuits (ICs) definition

What is an IC

An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC Circuit, an IC Chip, or a Microchip) is a set of Electronic Circuits on one small flat piece (or chip) of semiconductor material that is normally silicon. The integration of large numbers of tiny MOS transistors into a small chip results in circuits that are orders of magnitude smaller, faster, and less expensive than those constructed of discrete electronic components.

ICs are now used in virtually all electronic equipment and have revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones, and other digital home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the small size and low cost of IC chips. Meanwhile, Semiconductors category includes Integrated Circuits (ICs), Discrete Semiconductor Products (Diodes, Transistors, Thyristors, Rectifiers, FET, MOSFET, RF, BJT), Development Boards-Kits-Programmers, RF-Wireless, Embedded Computers, LED/Optoelectronics, Isolators and Sensors-Transducers. Because, all of them are electronic circuits and electronic components made of semiconductor material.

Types of Integrated Circuits

Digital ICs, Analog IC chips, and mixed integrated circuits are the 3 ICs types based on their intended purpose.

Types of Digital ICs

Generally, Digital chips are used in microprocessor, computers, computer networks, frequency counters and digital signal processors. Therefore, the types of digital ICs are Logic ICs, Interface ICs, Programmable ICs, Power Management ICs and Memory Chips. The good examples of Digital ICs are Microcontrollers and Microprocessor, which consist of million of logic gates and flip flops.

Analog Integrated Circuit ICs Types

Analog integrated chips are ics that function over a continuous spectrum of signals. There are 2 Analog ICs types, such as RF ICs (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits) and Linear ICs (Linear Integrated Circuits). An operational amplifier(op-amp), similar to the differential amplifier, is a type of Analog Integrated Circuits, which is used frequently. Compared with the Digital chips, this kinds of ICs use a very less number of transistors. Therefore , Analog ICs are used for modulation, amplification, demodulation, filtering and more. Meanwhile, the common examples of Analog Integrated Circuits are Sensors, NE555 timers and Operational Amplifier (OP-AMP).

All About Buying ICs

Best-Selling IC Chips

For electrical devices, there are thousands of distinct types of ICs (integrated circuits). The majority of them were created for extremely specialized uses. Many integrated chips, on the other hand, were developed for general-purpose application and are found in a wide range of Integrated circuits.

These integrated circuits have all been around for decades, but their versatile design, widespread availability, and low cost have ensured their continued appeal. The following will list the most popular Integrated Circuits in the electronics components industry.

1. 555 Timers Chip
The 555 timer chip is a timing integrated circuit, as one of the most popular IC chip. And the 555 timing interval  uses an external RC (resistor/capacitor) network to vary the timing duration. And this IC chip is used in a variety of osciallator, delay, timer and pulse generation applications.

2. LM741 IC and LM324 op-amps
An op-amp circuit is a special type of amplifier IC chip. And the most common op-amp integrated circuits are LM324 and LM741 op-amps circuits. And the LM324 op-amp has 4 separate integrated circuits in a single 14-pin DIP package. However, LM741 IC is a single op-amp circuit in a 8-pin package.