Why do IC's consume less power?

he reason for the lower power consumption is because everything is much smaller. Power consumption is
proportional to load (in this cases, it is largely capacitance), and proportional to square of operating
voltage. Since everything is really small in an integrated circuit, the capacitance is also very small. And
voltage is just around 1 volts or so these days in these IC’s.

IC's manufactured in various technology. Recently cmos technique is used in most of the IC's. Which
consumes power only in active state not consumes in static state, whereas in NMOS or PMOS consumes
power in static state.

If we use higher clock frequency range IC then active power will be high.

Integrated Circuits Questions and Answers

Q1. What is an IC?
An integrated circuit (IC) is one in which all active and passive components such as
transistor, diodes, resistors, capacitors etc. are automatically part of a small semiconductor
chip.

Q2. Why are ICs so cheap?

ICs are so cheap because of simultaneous production of hundreds of similar circuits on a
small semiconductor wafer.

Q3. Why do ICs need small power for their

operation?
ICs need small power due to their small size.

Q4. Why are ICs more reliable than discrete

circuits?
ICs are more reliable because of elimination of soldered joints and need for fewer
interconnections.
Q5. What are the advantages of ICs over discrete
component circuits?
The advantages of IC’s over discrete component circuits are extremely small size, very small
weight, very low cost, lower power consumption, more reliability, easy replacement,
increased operating speed, close matching, improved functional performance, suitability for
small signal operation etc.

Q6. What are the important IC technologies used?

IC technologies used are monolithic, thin- and thick-flim , and hybrid or multichip.

Q7. What is monolithic IC?

A monolithic IC is one in which all circuit components and their interconnections are
formed on a single thin wafer, called the substrate.

Q8. Why is SIO2 layer formed over the entire

surface in a monolithic IC?
SIO2 layer is formed over the entire surface so as to prevent the contamination of the
epitaxial layer.
Q9. How is SIO2 layer formed in a monolithic IC?
The SIO2 layer is grown by exposing the epitaxial layer to an oxygen atmosphere to about
1,000oC.
Q10. In ICs the substrate is not employed as
collector. Why?
If in ICs the substrate is employed as collector, all transistors fabricated on one substrate
would have their collectors connected together.

Q11. Why is the diffusion technique of formation

of resistor most widely used?
The diffused resistors can be processed while diffusing transistors, so the diffusion technique
is the cheapest and, therefore, is most widely used.
Q12. Why is the plastic DIP IC package most
widely used?
The plastic dual-in-line package is much cheaper than other types of packages and is,
therefore, most widely used.