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Mathematics, Numbers, and Computers - Are Any Devices Being Developed To Replace Silicon Chips?

Are any devices being developed to replace silicon chips?

A silicon chip is a tiny piece of almost pure silicon containing millions of transistors (devices that control the flow of electric current) and other tiny electronic circuit components. The silicon chip, developed at the end of the 1950s, controls the arithmetic, logic, and/or memory functions in a computer.

Since the early 1960s, silicon chips have enabled manufacturers to construct ever-smaller computers with increased power, speed, and memory storage. These efficient computers require less electricity to function and generate less heat than their predecessors. Throughout most of the 1970s, manufacturers could count on doubling the components on a chip every year without increasing the size of the chip. Now, however, the capabilities of the silicon chip are reaching their limit. Although more components are still being packed in, the...

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