Transistor

One of technology's most significant breakthroughs has been the discovery that many interconnected transistors can be created simultaneously on a single, small chip of semiconductor material. The techniques used to create individual transistors could also connect these devices to form microscopic circuits that are unified or integrated into a single solid object. The first integrated circuits (ICs) were primitive arrangements utilizing just a few transistors or diodes, but now it is common for single chips to contain millions of transistors.