Seminar Details
2026-09-17 (10:45) : A Brief History of Microelectronics
At BARB94
Duration: 75 minutes
Organized by Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics
Speaker :
Jean-Pierre Colinge (UCLouvain, University of California, TSMC)
Abstract :
Integrated circuit ("Silicon chips") are now part of our everyday life. They are at the core of almost every modern device: cars, toys, washing machines, musical birthday cards, and of course, those smartphones without which we can no longer access our bank account or read the infamous QR codes that we now encounter on a daily basis. These silicon chips are also at the center of a war for technological supremacy between China and the USA. In an era where artificial intelligence is perceived as the new Eldorado, the race for ever faster and more powerful computing power has transformed the semiconductor industry into a resource more valuable than petroleum itself.
The technology that produces advanced integrated circuits is evolving at an exponential rate (Moore's Law); the investments and tools used in microchip fabrication have reached astronomical costs that only a handful of companies can afford.
This Lecture covers the evolution of transistor and integrated circuit technology up to today's most advanced nodes (<2 nm) and the geopolitical aspects issues at stake.