SIC 3674 Semiconductors and Related Devices

Encyclopedia of American Industries | 2005 | Copyright

SIC 3674
SEMICONDUCTORS AND RELATED DEVICES

This category covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing semiconductors and related solid-state devices. Important products of this industry are semiconductor diodes and stacks, including rectifiers, integrated microcircuits (semiconductor networks), transistors, solar cells, and light sensing and emitting semiconductor (solid-state) devices.

NAICS Code(s)

334413 (Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing)

Industry Snapshot

No longer wholly dependent on personal computer sales, the U.S. semiconductor industry in the early 2000s provided components for a wide range of consumer and industrial electronics. Computers still accounted for more than 50 percent of the industry's sales. However, the growing field of data and telecommunications accounted for more than 25 percent. The industry was notoriously cyclical. After worldwide semiconductor sales grew 40 percent in 1995 to nearly $150.0 billion, sales dropped in 1996 and were flat through 1998. Sales reached record levels in 2000, totaling $204 billion. However, they fell sharply the following year, dropping to $139 billion as the industry experienced the worst year in its history. In the wake of 2001's dramatic decline, tens of thousands of industry workers lost their jobs.

The semiconductor industry was one of the fastest growing sectors in the U.S. economy between 1987 and 1996, when it grew from the seventeenth largest industry in the United States to the largest as measured by its contribution to the U.S. gross domestic product. Entering the twenty-first century, the information technology sector accounted for 11 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product and one-fourth of U.S. manufacturing output. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), in 2001 sales from U.S. semiconductor manufacturers totaled $72 billion, representing 51 percent of the global market. That year, the industry employed 283,875 U.S. workers, invested $18 billion in capital, and devoted more than $13 billion to research and development.

Organization and Structure

Sometimes referred to as "the crude oil of the information age," semiconductors are a pervasive but generally unseen aspect of everyday life. The tiny electronic circuits etched on chips of silicon are critical to the operation of virtually all electronics, from automatic coffee makers and antilock braking systems to cellular phones and supercomputers.

The computer industry is by far the largest market for semiconductors. In the early 2000s, sales to computer manufacturers and related enterprises accounted for about 50 percent of overall U.S. sales of semiconductors. Consumer electronics and the automotive industry were also important users of semiconductors and related products. The fastest growing market for semiconductors was related to communications, which accounted for more than 25 percent of sales in 2001, reflecting the rise of a global networked economy that relied on the electronic transfer of data.

Semiconductor chips are manufactured in "clean rooms," free of contaminating dust. In those facilities, thin, round silicon wafers are processed in batches. Chipmakers buy polished blank wafers from companies that specialize in growing silicon crystals, from which the wafers are cut. Each wafer is about half a millimeter thick. Microelectronics circuits are built up on the wafer layer by layer.

Circuit patterns—the collection of transistors, capacitors, and associated components and their interconnections—are inscribed on large glass plates called photomasks. The photomasks are later reduced and photolithographically projected onto the silicon wafers. Each mask comprises a total integrated circuit design.

Semiconductor companies design and manufacture primarily two types of products: integrated circuits (ICs) and discrete devices. A discrete semiconductor is an individual circuit that performs a single function affecting the flow of electrical current. For example, a transistor, one of the most common types of discrete devices, amplifies electrical signals; rectifiers and diodes generally convert alternating current into direct current; capacitors block the flow of alternating current at controlled levels; and resistors limit current flow and divide or drop current.

Integrated Circuits. Also called chips, integrated circuits are a collection of microminiaturized electronic components, such as transistors and capacitors, placed on a tiny rectangle of silicon. A single integrated circuit can perform the functions of thousands of discrete transistors, diodes, capacitors, and resistors. There are three basic types of integrated circuits currently produced by American semiconductor manufacturers: memory components, which are used to...

Read all of SIC 3674 Semiconductors and Related Devices at HighBeam Business

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

	Cylinders Take a Snooze Magazine article from: Automotive Industries ; ...Inspire models with cylinder deactivation last year...the approach Variable Cylinder Management (VCM...mileage. Disabling cylinders finally makes sense...disable unnecessary cylinders so seamlessly that the...happening under the hood. Cylinder deactivation works because...
	Cylinder lubrication and feed control in relation to low-speed, cross-head engine load and speed Magazine article from: Lubrication Engineering ; Cylinder lubricant qualities as well as oil feed...stroke cycle cross-head diesel engines. Cylinder liners and piston rings are lubricated...each plunger stroke. Spread along the cylinder wall, the thin oil film perceives a thermo...
	Cylinder overhauls: are they worth it? In a market dominated by intense competition in new cylinders, overhauled jugs still make sense in some cases. Here's how to make the call.(AIRCRAFT ENGINES)(Industry overview) Magazine article from: The Aviation Consumer ; ...Zephyr still does cylinder overhauls and still...installs overhauled cylinders from the exchange...plummet in factory cylinder prices and intense competition in new cylinders from Superior and...or two from the cylinder pool. Proactive replacement of good cylinders that might fail...
	Using cylinders without high-level shutoff, overfill protection: a risk not worth taking. (reusable cylinders for pressurized refrigerants)(Gem Sensors Div.) Magazine article from: Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News ; ...refrigerant cylinders. For decades...have been few cylinder-related accidents...standards set by cylinder manufacturers...of reusable cylinders to store and...rupturing the cylinder. Many mistakenly believe that cylinders equipped with...
	Recovery cylinders must be retested or you risk paying a $25,000 fine. Magazine article from: Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News ; ...a couple of the cylinders on hand, while national service cylinder may have thousands. Use of refrigerant cylinders for recovery didn...their use. Those cylinders will need their...Although the need for cylinder testing has been...
	Cylinder replacements: Lycoming, ECI are tops: the entire cylinder market has been racked by ADs, bulletins and recalls. Lycoming's factory jugs have been standout performers.(OVERHAUL DECISIONS) Magazine article from: The Aviation Consumer ; ...existing Superior cylinders, rendering what...the cream of the cylinder crop as one-run...against factory cylinders or those supplied...with an aftermarket cylinder or flying a Continental...as mundane as a cylinder AD--the FAA finalized...against Superior cylinders installed on ...
	Cylinder passes for a spring Magazine article from: Mechanical Engineering ; ...the fluid spring uses two cylinders, one that lifts the load...road irregularities. The cylinders are tied to each other...that is common to both cylinders. A valve feeds hydraulic fluid to the lift cylinder when the load's height...
	Hydraulic cylinder anatomy.(back to BASICS) Magazine article from: Control Engineering ; ...and design configurations, cylinder actuators form the main output...must fit precisely to the cylinder ID. Each must be precisely...motion. The latest industrial cylinders can incorporate sensor feedback...com/issues for more on: * Cylinder technology * Water hydraulics...
	Halon Cylinder Becomes a Rocket Magazine article from: Chemical Engineering Progress ; ...high-flow-rate cylinders have greater thrust...standard compressed gas cylinders. What Can You Do? * Treat every cylinder as capable of becoming...Follow compressed gas cylinder safe handling requirements for securing cylinders from falling, and...
	Composite Cylinders Magazine article from: Propane Canada ; ...Specifications" and "Composite Cylinder Applications" are two...approval of composite cylinders for propane applications...over steel and aluminum cylinders: * Translucency, which...gas remaining in the cylinder. * Lighter weight...indicating that composite cylinders will not fragment ...