Some keywords in VLSI

•Very-large-scale-integration (VLSI) is defined as a technology that allows the construction and interconnection of large numbers (millions) of transistors on a single integrated circuit.

•Integrated circuit is a collection of one or more gates fabricated on a single silicon chip.

•Wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor material on which semiconductor devices are made. Also called a slice or substrate.

•Chip is a small piece of semiconductor material upon which miniaturized electronic circuits can be built.

•Die is an individual circuit or subsystem that is one of several identical chips that are produced after dicing up a wafer.

Microelectronics

Is the art, science and technology of designing and fabricating integrated circuits with small-dimension electronic devices

Areas of Microelectronics are :
•VLSI Design
•VLSI CAD Tools
•Technology & Fabrication
•Physics
•Modeling and Simulation
•Characterization
•Testing

Nearly all the advances in the modern day electronic systems and devices are a direct outcome of VLSI technology