chip

Chip is a term with several distinct meanings in everyday language and technology. In electronics, a chip or integrated circuit is a small piece of semiconductor material, usually silicon, that contains an array of transistors and other components capable of performing logic, memory, and signal-processing functions. Chips are the core building blocks of modern devices, from smartphones and computers to household appliances and automotive systems. They are manufactured on silicon wafers and packaged for integration into circuits, where lithography, doping, deposition, and etching create the tiny features that enable parallel processing and compact form factors.

Technological history and development: The concept of the integrated circuit was independently demonstrated in 1958–1959 by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor. The invention revolutionized electronics by allowing many transistors to be placed on a single chip, reducing size and cost while increasing speed. Subsequent advances produced microprocessors, memory chips, and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), with feature sizes shrinking from micrometers to the nanometer scale and billions of transistors per chip.

As another meaning, chip can refer to a small fragment of material, such as a potato chip—a thin fried or baked slice of potato commonly eaten as a snack.

Chip also appears as a nickname or given name for people, often short for Charles, and is used in brand names and products. Other uses include gaming chips used in casinos and various technical terms that incorporate the word chip.