The chip consists of metal wires and transistors based on semiconductor materials. The width of the most advanced transistors and wires is smaller than the wavelength of light, and the size of the most advanced electronic switches is smaller than that of biological viruses.

The chip is manufactured by photolithography. Since the invention of 1950, lithography technology has been developing continuously. At present, the chip lithography process has been developed to use ultraviolet laser.

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In the early 1960' s, a transistor with the same width as cotton fiber cost about $8 (about RMB 5 1 yuan) in current dollars. At present, a chip the size of a fingernail can integrate billions of transistors, and the price of transistors has dropped to 1 cent (about 6 cents), so you can buy a lot.

The development of computer chips has helped Silicon Valley bring amazing progress to the world, including PC, smart phone and Internet. However, in recent years, the chip development speed predicted by Moore's Law has slowed down. About 10 years ago, the chip speed stopped further improving, the time for the new generation of chips to come out was prolonged, and the cost of a single transistor no longer decreased.

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