Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) is a technology by which millions of MOS (metal-oxide-silicon) transistors can be combined within a single chip forming an integrated circuit. It has reached widespread popularity in the electronics and engineering industry since its introduction. In the age of digital transformation and rapid advancement of modern technologies, VLSI semiconductors have become one of the key elements of manufacturing equipments associated with growing technologies such as Industry 4.0 and Internet of Things (IoT).
Applications of VLSI
With the ability of integrating a massive number of transistors in a single chip, the VLSI technology has rapidly adopted into the world of electronics and telecommunications. Microprocessors and chips of electronic gadgets such as computers, workstations, digital camera, camcorder, graphic cards, cell phones, etc use VLSI circuits. The automobile industry is focusing on further developing electric vehicles which relies heavily on VLSI technology for chip design and architecture that guarantees increased performance along with power consumption.
Present Scenario
The global market has encountered a serious problem; semiconductors are scarce and supply is not meeting with the demand. The lack of semiconductors has created a tight situation for companies responsible for manufacturing electronic products as a semiconductor is a crucial component of any electronic goods. During the initial stage of the recent pandemic, some companies and manufacturers have addressed the shortage of semiconductors.
During the recent pandemic, the electronic industry experienced a sharp increase of electronic gadgets sales. Since manufacturing of semiconductors cannot be increased on short notice, supply is unable to meet the demand. Manufacturing a semiconductor is a complicated process and according to Bloomberg, building a semiconductor chip usually “takes more than three months”. The pandemic has also created a significant impact on the semiconductor supply chain as delivery of chips was hampered due to worldwide lockdown procedures.
A serious concern about this problem is that it doesn’t have an immediate solution. Intel has reported that this problem would stay for now and supplies would return to the normal state after “a year or two”. According to Gartner, shortage of chips would continue up to the second quarter of 2022.
Market size
The sharp increase of electronic gadgets sales has created a significant impact on the semiconductor market. At present, the global semiconductor market has estimated to be more than 450 billion USD. Major chip manufactures have generated an ample amount of revenue in the semiconductor market. Focus has been made on developing chips for integrated circuits (ICs), memory, analog, logic, discrete, optoelectronics and sensors using VLSI technology. These chips are used as primary materials for producing electronic gadgets in the field of communication (both wired and wireless), consumer electronics, automotive electronics and industrial purposes.
The new 2 nm chip
The semiconductor industry has recently encountered a significant breakthrough in chip design in the current year with the introduction of chips with 2 nanometer nanosheet technology. With the demand of a new type of chip that will perform faster as well as save energy more efficiently than other chips, the new 2 nm design arrives as the perfect solution. The new 2 nm chip is capable of delivering 45% higher performance and 75% lower use of energy than present 7 nm or 5 nm chips. With this new design, chips of small sizes can hold 50 billion transistors for a better performance. The 2 nm chip will significantly reduce carbon footprint of data centers, increase the battery life of smartphones or laptops and drastically increase computing functions like application processing and faster internet access.
Growth and Prediction The future seems bright for the semiconductor industry and VLSI technology; its popularity and advantages in the electronic equipments have assured a significant growth in the future. Various market analysis and surveys have stated that this industry will encounter a significant growth within this decade. According to Report Linker, global semiconductor market will reach 778 billion USD by 2026.
