Today, Moore's law is gradually approaching the physical limit, Film Integrated Circuit (Film Integrated Circuit) with its unique advantages, is opening a new chapter in the semiconductor industry. This technological change is not only related to the improvement of chip performance, but also will reshape the ecological pattern of the entire electronics industry.
Traditional integrated circuits are built on silicon-based materials, and billions of transistors are produced on silicon wafers through complex processes such as photolithography and etching. This technology has promoted the rapid development of information technology for more than half a century, but as the process process enters below 5 nanometers, physical limitations such as quantum tunneling effect become increasingly prominent. Thin-film IC uses a new material system and manufacturing process to deposit functional films on flexible substrates, which provides a new possibility to break through the limitations of traditional IC.
The core advantage of thin-film integrated circuits is their revolutionary manufacturing process. Using Roll-to-Roll printing technology, electronic devices can be manufactured on a large scale on a flexible substrate at one-tenth the production cost of traditional silicon-based chips. This technological breakthrough makes chip manufacturing no longer limited to the clean room environment, greatly lowering the industry entry barrier. More importantly, thin film integrated circuits have excellent flexibility and stretchability, providing an ideal solution for emerging applications such as wearable devices and flexible displays.
In terms of application scenarios, thin film integrated circuits are opening up a new market space. In the field of Internet of Things, ultra-thin, flexible characteristics make it possible to embed in a variety of everyday objects; In the field of medical health, biocompatible thin film chips can realize real-time monitoring in the human body; In the field of new energy, printed photovoltaic cells and flexible energy storage devices show great potential. These applications not only expand the application boundaries of integrated circuits, but also give birth to a series of new industries.
Looking forward to the future, thin film integrated circuits and traditional silicon-based chips will form a complementary symbiotic industrial ecology. In areas requiring high-performance computing, traditional integrated circuits will continue to dominate; In the pursuit of low-cost, flexible, large-scale deployment of application scenarios, thin film integrated circuits will shine. The differentiation and integration of this technical route marks that the integrated circuit industry is entering a new era of diversified development. In this change, only enterprises that grasp the technology trend and deeply cultivate the application scenarios can occupy a favorable position in the new industrial pattern.