ABSTRACT
New knowledge and tools are constantly expanding the range of applications for semiconductor devices and integrated circuits. The solid-state computing, telecommunications, aerospace, automotive, and consumer electronics industries all rely heavily on the quality of these methods and processes. In each
of these industries dramatic changes are underway. In computers, for example, the cost per unit of computing has fallen from $100,000/MIPS (million instructions per second) in mainframes to less than $10/MIPS for PCs and some workstations. In addition to increased performance, next-generation computing is increasingly being performed by portable, hand-held computers. A similar trend exists in telecommunications, where the user will soon be employing high-performance, multifunctional, portable units. In the consumer industry, multimedia products capable of voice, image, video, text, and other functions are also expected to be commonplace within the next decade.
