Today worldwide commercial competition exists between US and Japanese companies . The US market was created by startup firms in Silicon Valley, CA which still excel in new product innovation. There are numerous types of integrated circuits. One type are microprocessors used in PCs and controlling automobile engines and a wide variety of other equipment. Digital signal processors are used in communications. Numerous electronic devices use various types of memory ICs. The US developed silicon compilers, which are software programs, to design custom integrated circuits automatically. Japan's strength is production efficiency of commodity integrated circuits such as memory chips. The Japanese are trying to use memory production efficiencies as the means to dominate the entire microelectronics market. To gain a strategic hold on the memory market, Japanese firms in the 80s sold memory integrated circuits below cost until most of the US firms abandoned the memory market. Japan is now leading in the production of memory chips and will probably continue to do so. IBM, not to become a captive of the Japanese firms, creates its own memory chips. IBM has kept pace in memory chips with the Japanese. In order to improve their competitive position in relationship with the Japanese, the US has set up a research facility for improved integrated circuit production here in Austin called Semitech. Recently the US market share seems to have stabilized with respect to the Japanese. Korea has had considerable success in IC manufacturing.
The technology for making electronic ICs is also being used to make related products. Micromachines are electromechanical devices generally with moving parts such as minuscule membranes, valves, cantilevers, and bridges which can be mass-produced on silicon wafers and result in individual micromachines less than a millimeter across. Such micromachines can act as sensors for the environment or to trigger an air bag. Such devices or open or close a valve. They are being used to create inexpensive infrared cameras. There is intense international competition between the US, Japan and Europe to develop the commercial applications.
Another technology which is closely related to electronic ICs is optoelectronics which are micosemiconductor devices to process laser light and convert electricity into light or vice versa. One example is the semiconductor laser the size of a grain of sand. Other examples are encoders and decoders transferring signals from and to electricity in fiber optic communication networks. This technology is the basis for the race to build high quality, inexpensive flat TV and computer screens. In this field there is intense competition between the US and Japan.
Surf the Internet:
If you are interested in learning more about microelectronics, check out the following:
To return to the notes remember to click `back' at the top of your screen. You may have to click several times depending how deeply you delve into these files.