Semiconductor ↔ relates to ↔ Technology

The Treasure Valley is a valley in the western United States, primarily in southwestern Idaho, where the Payette, Boise, Weiser, Malheur, and Owyhee rivers drain into the Snake River. It includes all the lowland areas from Vale in rural eastern Oregon to Boise, and is the most populated area in Idaho. Historically, the valley had been known as the Lower Snake River Valley or the Boise River Valley. Pete Olesen, president of the valley's association of local Chambers of Commerce, coined the name "Treasure Valley" in 1959 to reflect the treasure chest of resources and opportunities that the region offered. The valley has a very diverse terrain, from sage flatlands, to mesas, agricultural areas, and urbanized areas.

eflect the treasure chest of resources and opportunities that the region offered. The valley has a very diverse terrain, from sage flatlands, to mesas, agricultural areas, and urbanized areas. As the Boise Metropolitan Area grows, more and more undeveloped and agricultural land is being urbanized. History Settling the region The tribes that roamed the area, specifically, were the Northern Paiute and Shoshone. In 1834, Thomas McKay built the original Fort Boise, in the area near present-day Parma, which was run for a time by Francois Payette. It later was moved because of flooding troubles and was abandoned in 1854. The Oregon Trail runs through the Treasure Valley. The valley was settled for the most part by ranchers and farmers, initially to supply the gold and silver mining communities in the higher elevations nearby: Idaho City in the Boise Basin and Silver City in the Owyhees. A new Fort Boise was constructed by the U.S. Army in 1863 in present-day Boise, from which the city grew.

icultural land is being urbanized. History Settling the region The tribes that roamed the area, specifically, were the Northern Paiute and Shoshone. In 1834, Thomas McKay built the original Fort Boise, in the area near present-day Parma, which was run for a time by Francois Payette. It later was moved because of flooding troubles and was abandoned in 1854. The Oregon Trail runs through the Treasure Valley. The valley was settled for the most part by ranchers and farmers, initially to supply the gold and silver mining communities in the higher elevations nearby: Idaho City in the Boise Basin and Silver City in the Owyhees. A new Fort Boise was constructed by the U.S. Army in 1863 in present-day Boise, from which the city grew.

d the highest intensity of Research & Development in the EU and ranked second after Biotechnology in the EU, United States and Japan combined. The semiconductor industry is in turn the driving force behind the wider electronics industry, with annual power electronics sales of £135 billion ($216 billion) as of 2011, annual consumer electronics sales expected to reach $2.9 trillion by 2020, tech industry sales expected to reach $5 trillion in 2019, and e-commerce with over $29 trillion in 2017. In 2019, 32.4% of the semiconductor market segment was for networks and communications devices. In 2021, the sales of semiconductors reached a record $555.9 billion, up 26.2%, with sales in China reaching $192.5 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. A record 1.15 trillion semiconductor units were shipped in the calendar year.

tial growth in semiconductor device production, known as Moore's law that has persisted over the past six or so decades. The industry's annual semiconductor sales revenue has since grown to over $481 billion, as of 2018. In 2010, the semiconductor industry had the highest intensity of Research & Development in the EU and ranked second after Biotechnology in the EU, United States and Japan combined. The semiconductor industry is in turn the driving force behind the wider electronics industry, with annual power electronics sales of £135 billion ($216 billion) as of 2011, annual consumer electronics sales expected to reach $2.9 trillion by 2020, tech industry sales expected to reach $5 trillion in 2019, and e-commerce with over $29 trillion in 2017. In 2019, 32.4% of the semiconductor market segment was for networks and communications devices. In 2021, the sales of semiconductors reached a record $555.9 billion, up 26.2%, with sales in China reaching $192.5 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. A record 1.15 trillion semiconductor units were shipped in the calendar year.

e-commerce with over $29 trillion in 2017. In 2019, 32.4% of the semiconductor market segment was for networks and communications devices. In 2021, the sales of semiconductors reached a record $555.9 billion, up 26.2%, with sales in China reaching $192.5 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. A record 1.15 trillion semiconductor units were shipped in the calendar year.

A cleanroom or clean room is an engineered space that maintains a very low concentration of airborne particulates. It is well-isolated, well-controlled from contamination, and actively cleansed. Such rooms are commonly needed for scientific research and in industrial production for all nanoscale processes, such as semiconductor device manufacturing. A cleanroom is designed to keep everything from dust to airborne organisms or vaporised particles away from it, and so from whatever material is being handled inside it. A cleanroom can also prevent the escape of materials. This is often the primary aim in hazardous biology, nuclear work, pharmaceutics, and virology. Cleanrooms typically come with a cleanliness level quantified by the number of particles per cubic meter at a predetermined molecule measure. The ambient outdoor air in a typical urban area contains 35,000,000 particles for each cubic meter in the size range 0.5 μm and bigger, equivalent to an ISO 9 certified cleanroom. By comparison, an ISO 14644-1 level 1 certified cleanroom permits no particles in that size range, and just 12 particles for each cubic meter of 0.3 μm and smaller.

e commonly needed for scientific research and in industrial production for all nanoscale processes, such as semiconductor device manufacturing. A cleanroom is designed to keep everything from dust to airborne organisms or vaporised particles away from it, and so from whatever material is being handled inside it. A cleanroom can also prevent the escape of materials. This is often the primary aim in hazardous biology, nuclear work, pharmaceutics, and virology. Cleanrooms typically come with a cleanliness level quantified by the number of particles per cubic meter at a predetermined molecule measure. The ambient outdoor air in a typical urban area contains 35,000,000 particles for each cubic meter in the size range 0.5 μm and bigger, equivalent to an ISO 9 certified cleanroom. By comparison, an ISO 14644-1 level 1 certified cleanroom permits no particles in that size range, and just 12 particles for each cubic meter of 0.3 μm and smaller.

ar work, pharmaceutics, and virology. Cleanrooms typically come with a cleanliness level quantified by the number of particles per cubic meter at a predetermined molecule measure. The ambient outdoor air in a typical urban area contains 35,000,000 particles for each cubic meter in the size range 0.5 μm and bigger, equivalent to an ISO 9 certified cleanroom. By comparison, an ISO 14644-1 level 1 certified cleanroom permits no particles in that size range, and just 12 particles for each cubic meter of 0.3 μm and smaller.

The CHIPS and Science Act is a U.S. federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 9, 2022. The act authorizes roughly $280 billion in new funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States, for which it appropriates $52.7 billion. The act includes $39 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturing on U.S. soil along with 25% investment tax credits for costs of manufacturing equipment, and $13 billion for semiconductor research and workforce training, with the dual aim of strengthening American supply chain resilience and countering China. It also invests $174 billion in the overall ecosystem of public sector research in science and technology, advancing human spaceflight, quantum computing, materials science, biotechnology, experimental physics, research security, social and ethical considerations, workforce development and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at NASA, NSF, DOE, EDA, and NIST. The act does not have an official short title as a whole but is divided into three divisions with their own short titles: Division A is the CHIPS Act of 2022 (where CHIPS stands for the former "Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors" for America Act); Division B is the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act; and Division C is the Supreme Court Security Funding Act of 2022. By March 2024, analysts estimated that the act incentivized between 25 and 50 separate potential projects, with total projected investments of $160–200 billion and 25,000–45,000 new jobs.

s in the United States, for which it appropriates $52.7 billion. The act includes $39 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturing on U.S. soil along with 25% investment tax credits for costs of manufacturing equipment, and $13 billion for semiconductor research and workforce training, with the dual aim of strengthening American supply chain resilience and countering China. It also invests $174 billion in the overall ecosystem of public sector research in science and technology, advancing human spaceflight, quantum computing, materials science, biotechnology, experimental physics, research security, social and ethical considerations, workforce development and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at NASA, NSF, DOE, EDA, and NIST. The act does not have an official short title as a whole but is divided into three divisions with their own short titles: Division A is the CHIPS Act of 2022 (where CHIPS stands for the former "Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors" for America Act); Division B is the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act; and Division C is the Supreme Court Security Funding Act of 2022. By March 2024, analysts estimated that the act incentivized between 25 and 50 separate potential projects, with total projected investments of $160–200 billion and 25,000–45,000 new jobs.

ce, biotechnology, experimental physics, research security, social and ethical considerations, workforce development and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at NASA, NSF, DOE, EDA, and NIST. The act does not have an official short title as a whole but is divided into three divisions with their own short titles: Division A is the CHIPS Act of 2022 (where CHIPS stands for the former "Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors" for America Act); Division B is the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act; and Division C is the Supreme Court Security Funding Act of 2022. By March 2024, analysts estimated that the act incentivized between 25 and 50 separate potential projects, with total projected investments of $160–200 billion and 25,000–45,000 new jobs.

The company was founded in 1912 by Karl Meissner and Paul Wurst. For the first 50 years of its existence, Meissner + Wurst mainly produced extraction units, fans and equipment for ventilation technology. In the 1960s, Meissner + Wurst established itself as a pioneer in the development of cleanroom technology. Since the 1990s, the company expanded worldwide by extending its business areas, founding new branch offices and acquiring companies. Jenoptik took over Meissner + Wurst in October 1994 and merged it with Zander Klimatechnik AG from Nuremberg in August 1998 to form M+W Zander. The building services engineering division was spun off from the group in a management buyout under the name M+W Zander Gebäudetechnik GmbH in 2004 and was renamed Caverion Deutschland GmbH in February 2007. In 2005 the Swiss investor Springwater Capital took over M+W Zander, and in 2008 the facility management division was transferred to HSG, which belongs to the Bilfinger Group. Since then, the company has operated under the name of M+W Group, or M+W for short, and is 100% owned by the Austrian holding company Stumpf Group since 2009. The Exyte Group was established in 2018 from a reorganization of the M+W Group. The core businesses (solutions for the semiconductor, batteries, biopharma and Life sciences as well as services for Data centers) were bundled within the Exyte Group, while all other business activities, which are mainly related to energy projects, are still conducted under the brand name M+W Group. In 2018, the company announced its plans for a public listing and that a larger minority stake would be sold via an IPO. This IPO was postponed in October of the same year due to unfavorable market conditions. In November 2022 BDT Capital Partners agreed to acquire a significant share of Exyte. In March 2024, it was announced Exyte had acquired CollabraTech Solutions, a Phoenix, Arizona-based delivery systems and contract manufacturing services company, for an undisclosed amount.

Exyte is an international company for design, engineering, procurement, and construction in controlled and regulated environments. Its headquarters are located in Stuttgart, Germany. Exyte's core business includes solutions for the semiconductor, life sciences and chemical industries as well as data centers.

nical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and computer science and engineering, and includes a combination of robotics, computer science, telecommunications, systems, control, automation and product engineering. As technology advances over time, various subfields of engineering have succeeded in both adapting and multiplying. The intention of mechatronics is to produce a design solution that unifies each of these various subfields.

ver, as the complexity of technical systems continued to evolve, the definition had been broadened to include more technical areas. Many people treat mechatronics as a modern buzzword synonymous with automation, robotics and electromechanical engineering. French standard NF E 01-010 gives the following definition: "approach aiming at the synergistic integration of mechanics, electronics, control theory, and computer science within product design and manufacturing, in order to improve and/or optimize its functionality".

Electronics and telecommunication engineering specializes in electronics devices and telecom devices of a mechatronics system. A mechatronics engineer specialized in electronics and telecommunications have knowledge of computer hardware devices. The transmission of signal is the main application of this subfield of mechatronics. Where digital and analog systems also forms an important part of mechatronics systems. Telecommunications engineering deals with the transmission of information across a medium. Electronics engineering is related to computer engineering and electrical engineering. Control engineering has a wide range of electronic applications from the flight and propulsion systems of commercial airplanes to the cruise control present in many modern cars (automobiles). VLSI designing is important for creating integrated circuits. Mechatronics engineers have deep knowledge of microprocessors, microcontrollers, microchips and semiconductors. The application of mechatronics in electronics manufacturing industry can conduct research and development on consumer electronic devices such as mobile phones, computers, cameras etc. For mechatronics engineers it is necessary to learn operating computer applications such as MATLAB and Simulink for designing and developing electronic products. Mechatronics engineering is an interdisciplinary course, it includes concepts of both electrical and mechanical systems. A mechatronics engineer engages in designing high power transformers or radio-frequency module transmitters. Industrial The branch of industrial engineer includes the design of machinery, assembly and process lines of various manufacturing industries. This branch can be said somewhat similar to automation and robotics. Mechatronics engineers who works as industrial engineers design and develop infrastructure of a manufacturing plant. Also it can be said that they are architect of machines.

of electrical fields or light, devices made from semiconductors can be used for amplification, switching, and energy conversion. The term semiconductor is also used to describe materials used in high capacity, medium- to high-voltage cables as part of their insulation, and these materials are often plastic XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene) with carbon black. The conductivity of silicon can be increased by adding a small amount (of the order of 1 in 108) of pentavalent (antimony, phosphorus, or arsenic) or trivalent (boron, gallium, indium) atoms. This process is known as doping, and the resulting semiconductors are known as doped or extrinsic semiconductors. Apart from doping, the conductivity of a semiconductor can be improved by increasing its temperature. This is contrary to the behavior of a metal, in which conductivity decreases with an increase in temperature. The modern understanding of the properties of a semiconductor relies on quantum physics to explain the movement of charge carriers in a crystal lattice. Doping greatly increases the number of charge carriers within the crystal. When a semiconductor is doped by Group V elements, they will behave like donors creating free electrons, known as "n-type" doping. When a semiconductor is doped by Group III elements, they will behave like acceptors creating free holes, known as "p-type" doping. The semiconductor materials used in electronic devices are doped under precise conditions to control the concentration and regions of p- and n-type dopants. A single semiconductor device crystal can have many p- and n-type regions; the p–n junctions between these regions are responsible for the useful electronic behavior. Using a hot-point probe, one can determine quickly whether a semiconductor sample is p- or n-type. A few of the properties of semiconductor materials were observed throughout the mid-19th and first decades of the 20th century. The first practical application of semiconductors in electronics was the 1904 development of the cat's-whisker detector, a primitive semiconductor diode used in early radio receivers.

with different doping levels are present in the same crystal, they form a semiconductor junction. The term "semiconductors" is sometimes used to refer to semiconductor devices such as microchips and computer processors, which work using the physical properties of semiconductors. The behavior of charge carriers, which include electrons, ions, and electron holes, at these junctions is the basis of diodes, transistors, and most modern electronics. Some examples of semiconductors are silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, and elements near the so-called "metalloid staircase" on the periodic table. After silicon, gallium arsenide is the second-most common semiconductor and is used in laser diodes, solar cells, microwave-frequency integrated circuits, and others. Silicon is a critical element for fabricating most electronic circuits. Semiconductor devices can display a range of different useful properties, such as passing current more easily in one direction than the other, showing variable resistance, and having sensitivity to light or heat. Because the electrical properties of a semiconductor material can be modified by doping and by the application of electrical fields or light, devices made from semiconductors can be used for amplification, switching, and energy conversion. The term semiconductor is also used to describe materials used in high capacity, medium- to high-voltage cables as part of their insulation, and these materials are often plastic XLPE (cross-linked polyethylene) with carbon black. The conductivity of silicon can be increased by adding a small amount (of the order of 1 in 108) of pentavalent (antimony, phosphorus, or arsenic) or trivalent (boron, gallium, indium) atoms. This process is known as doping, and the resulting semiconductors are known as doped or extrinsic semiconductors. Apart from doping, the conductivity of a semiconductor can be improved by increasing its temperature. This is contrary to the behavior of a metal, in which conductivity decreases with an increase in temperature. The modern understanding of the properties of a semiconductor relies on quantum physics to explain the movement of charge carriers in a crystal lattice. Doping greatly increases the number of charge carriers within the crystal. When a semiconductor is doped by Group V elements, they will behave like donors creating free electrons, known as "n-type" doping. When a semiconductor is doped by Group III elements, they will behave like acceptors creating free holes, known as "p-type" doping. The semiconductor materials used in electronic devices are doped under precise conditions to control the concentration and regions of p- and n-type dopants. A single semiconductor device crystal can have many p- and n-type regions; the p–n junctions between these regions are responsible for the useful electronic behavior. Using a hot-point probe, one can determine quickly whether a semiconductor sample is p- or n-type. A few of the properties of semiconductor materials were observed throughout the mid-19th and first decades of the 20th century. The first practical application of semiconductors in electronics was the 1904 development of the cat's-whisker detector, a primitive semiconductor diode used in early radio receivers.

Preparation of semiconductor materials Almost all of today's electronic technology involves the use of semiconductors, with the most important aspect being integrated circuits (ICs), which are found in desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, and other electronic devices. Semiconductors for ICs are mass-produced. To create an ideal semiconducting material, chemical purity is paramount. Any small imperfection can have a drastic effect on how the semiconducting material behaves due to the scale at which the materials are used. A high degree of crystalline perfection is also required, since faults in the crystal structure (such as dislocations, twins, and stacking faults) interfere with the semiconducting properties of the material. Crystalline faults are a major cause of defective semiconductor devices. The larger the crystal, the more difficult it is to achieve the necessary perfection. Current mass production processes use crystal ingots between 100 and 300 mm (3.9 and 11.8 in) in diameter, grown as cylinders and sliced into wafers. The round shape characteristic of these wafers comes from single-crystal ingots usually produced using the Czochralski method. Silicon wafers were first introduced in the 1940s. There is a combination of processes that are used to prepare semiconducting materials for ICs. One process is called thermal oxidation, which forms silicon dioxide on the surface of the silicon. This is used as a gate insulator and field oxide. Other processes are called photomasks and photolithography. This process is what creates the patterns on the circuit in the integrated circuit. Ultraviolet light is used along with a photoresist layer to create a chemical change that generates the patterns for the circuit. The etching is the next process that is required. The part of the silicon that was not covered by the photoresist layer from the previous step can now be etched. The main process typically used today is called plasma etching. Plasma etching usually involves an etch gas pumped in a low-pressure chamber to create plasma. A common etch gas is chlorofluorocarbon, or more commonly known Freon. A high radio-frequency voltage between the cathode and anode is what creates the plasma in the chamber. The silicon wafer is located on the cathode, which causes it to be hit by the positively charged ions that are released from the plasma. The result is silicon that is etched anisotropically. The last process is called diffusion. This is the process that gives the semiconducting material its desired semiconducting properties. It is also known as doping. The process introduces an impure atom to the system, which creates the p–n junction. To get the impure atoms embedded in the silicon wafer, the wafer is first put in a 1,100 degree Celsius chamber. The atoms are injected in and eventually diffuse with the silicon.

College of Western Idaho (CWI) is a public community college in Southwest Idaho with its primary campus locations in Boise and Nampa. CWI also offers classes at several community locations throughout the Treasure Valley. It is one of four comprehensive community colleges along with the College of Eastern Idaho, College of Southern Idaho and North Idaho College, in Idaho and is governed by a five-member board of trustees elected at large by voters in Ada and Canyon counties. CWI offers over 120 programs in the areas of Academic Transfer, Dual Credit, Career and Technical Education, Workforce Development, and Adult Education. In fall of 2023, CWI served 21,359 credit students and 14,951 noncredit students. CWI reported the gender of their students to be 55% female and 45% male.

e 55% female and 45% male. Idaho residents comprised 98% of CWI's student population and Ada County residents were 49%, while 28% were Canyon County residents. History Prior to the creation of CWI, Boise was one of the largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States without a community college. CWI was created on May 22, 2007, when voters of Canyon and Ada counties passed a measure to allow the formation of the new community college district. In June 2007, the Albertson Foundation announced it was donating $10 million to help found the college. In July 2007, the Idaho State Board of Education selected an initial five-member board of trustees. The following month Boise State University faculty member Dennis Griffin was named to a two-year term as the college's first president and CWI began offering academic classes on January 20, 2009, with an enrollment of over 1,100 students. In the summer of 2009 the professional-technical programs from Boise State University's Selland College of Applied Technology transitioned to CWI. By the fall 2009 semester, CWI enrollment had expanded to over 3,600 students. In January 2010, CWI applied for accreditation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). NWCCU granted candidacy status at the associate degree level in 2012 and initial accreditation in 2016. President Griffin retired in August 2009 and was succeeded by Bert Glandon. After serving as president for 12 years, Glandon retired from CWI on May 15, 2021. The college's board of trustees named Denise Aberle-Cannata the interim president. CWI Board of Trustees extended an offer to Gordon Jones on Dec. 9, 2021 to be the next president at College of Western Idaho. Gordon Jones accepted the position of President at CWI and began his tenure as the third president in CWI's history on Jan.

History Prior to the creation of CWI, Boise was one of the largest metropolitan statistical areas in the United States without a community college. CWI was created on May 22, 2007, when voters of Canyon and Ada counties passed a measure to allow the formation of the new community college district. In June 2007, the Albertson Foundation announced it was donating $10 million to help found the college. In July 2007, the Idaho State Board of Education selected an initial five-member board of trustees. The following month Boise State University faculty member Dennis Griffin was named to a two-year term as the college's first president and CWI began offering academic classes on January 20, 2009, with an enrollment of over 1,100 students. In the summer of 2009 the professional-technical programs from Boise State University's Selland College of Applied Technology transitioned to CWI. By the fall 2009 semester, CWI enrollment had expanded to over 3,600 students. In January 2010, CWI applied for accreditation from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). NWCCU granted candidacy status at the associate degree level in 2012 and initial accreditation in 2016. President Griffin retired in August 2009 and was succeeded by Bert Glandon. After serving as president for 12 years, Glandon retired from CWI on May 15, 2021. The college's board of trustees named Denise Aberle-Cannata the interim president. CWI Board of Trustees extended an offer to Gordon Jones on Dec. 9, 2021 to be the next president at College of Western Idaho. Gordon Jones accepted the position of President at CWI and began his tenure as the third president in CWI's history on Jan.

ta center, hyperscale data centers owned by very large cloud service companies, and smaller edge data centers located close to end users. Hyperscale and colocation facilities collectively account for approximately 74% of U.S. server energy consumption as of 2023, a share that has grown significantly over the past decade as workloads have migrated away from enterprise on-premises infrastructure. Since IT operations are crucial for business continuity, a data center generally includes redundant or backup components. Other important design considerations are power supply, network infrastructure, environmental controls (e.g., cooling, fire suppression), and various measures for physical and data security. Large data centers operate at an industrial scale, requiring significant energy. Estimated global data center electricity consumption in 2024 was around 415 terawatt hours (TWh), or about 1.5% of global electricity demand. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that data center electricity consumption could double by 2030. The rapid growth of data center infrastructure has prompted regulatory debates in multiple jurisdictions regarding tax incentives, electricity grid impacts, water consumption, and compatibility with state and national climate commitments. Rapid growth of the AI industry is leading to strain on electric grids and increased electricity costs for consumers. This in turn has drawn growing opposition to new data centers from local people who would bear the burdens of social and environmental impacts, such as energy and water use, while faraway actors and institutions would receive the projects' benefits. These opposition movements have materialized especially in parts of Europe, the U.S., and South America. Billions of dollars in projects were halted or delayed by data center resistances in the U.S.

Data centers are usually classified according to their ownership model, scale, and intended use. Distribution of computing workloads across these four categories has shifted dramatically over the past decade, with hyperscale and colocation collectively accounting for approximately 74% of U.S. server energy consumption in 2023, up from less than 40% in 2014; this share is projected to reach 85% by 2028.

Hyperscale data centers are large-scale facilities, typically exceeding 100 megawatts of power capacity, designed to support massive, scalable computing workloads for cloud services, AI training, and large-scale data processing. By the end of 2024, there were 1,136 operational hyperscale data centers globally, a figure that doubled over the previous five years, with the U.S. accounting for approximately 54% of total hyperscale capacity. In particular, the three largest operators, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, collectively account for approximately 59% of all hyperscale data center capacity globally. As a growing trend, hyperscale data centers represented about 41% of worldwide data center capacity in 2024 and are projected to exceed 60% by 2029 as enterprise on-premises infrastructure continues to decline. Moreover, as artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming widely used, AI data centers are being built more rapidly, and they can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households, more than conventional data centers.

ons, known collectively as "sponsors", provide apprentices with paid on-the-job learning and academic instruction that reflects industry needs. The goal of such instruction is to provide workers with advanced skillsets that meet the specific needs of their employers. History Following the creation of the first Registered Apprenticeship system in Wisconsin in 1911, the United States Congress passed the National Apprenticeship Act (known as the "Fitzgerald Act") in 1937, establishing federal Registered Apprenticeship. Initially, Registered Apprenticeship programs consisted mainly of the manufacturing, construction and utilities industries. After World War II, Registered Apprenticeship began to expand into training of health and safety workers, including firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians. Recently, the program guidelines were revised in late 2008 to allow for greater flexibility in serving apprentices and program sponsors in prevailing economic conditions.

Registered Apprenticeship is a program of the United States Department of Labor that connects job seekers looking to learn new skills with employers looking for qualified workers. Employers, employer associations, and joint labor-management organizations, known collectively as "sponsors", provide apprentices with paid on-the-job learning and academic instruction that reflects industry needs.

s that meet the specific needs of their employers. History Following the creation of the first Registered Apprenticeship system in Wisconsin in 1911, the United States Congress passed the National Apprenticeship Act (known as the "Fitzgerald Act") in 1937, establishing federal Registered Apprenticeship. Initially, Registered Apprenticeship programs consisted mainly of the manufacturing, construction and utilities industries. After World War II, Registered Apprenticeship began to expand into training of health and safety workers, including firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians. Recently, the program guidelines were revised in late 2008 to allow for greater flexibility in serving apprentices and program sponsors in prevailing economic conditions.

Export control is legislation that regulates the export of goods, software and technology. Some items could potentially be useful for purposes that are contrary to the interest of the exporting country. These items are considered to be controlled. The export of controlled item is regulated to restrict the harmful use of those items. Many governments implement export controls.

d to be controlled. The export of controlled item is regulated to restrict the harmful use of those items. Many governments implement export controls. Typically, legislation lists and classifies the controlled items, classifies the destinations, and requires exporters to apply for a licence to a local government department. History The United States has had export controls since the American Revolution, although the modern export control regimes can be traced back to the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. A significant piece of legislation was the Export Control Act of 1940 which inter alia aimed to restrict shipments of material to pre-war Japan. In the United Kingdom, the Import, Export and Customs Power (Defence) Act of 1939 was the main legislation prior to World War II. Post WWII, the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom) was founded in 1948, and continued until 1994.

inations, and requires exporters to apply for a licence to a local government department. History The United States has had export controls since the American Revolution, although the modern export control regimes can be traced back to the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. A significant piece of legislation was the Export Control Act of 1940 which inter alia aimed to restrict shipments of material to pre-war Japan. In the United Kingdom, the Import, Export and Customs Power (Defence) Act of 1939 was the main legislation prior to World War II. Post WWII, the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom) was founded in 1948, and continued until 1994.

The Idaho Department of Commerce is the state-level economic development agency for the State of Idaho.

Recreational technology Abundant recreational opportunities make Idaho a potential market for any business in the Recreational Technology industry. From the emerald green hillsides, timbered mountains and pristine lakes of the panhandle, to the jagged peaks of central Idaho, all the way down to the Snake River Basin with its wide open vistas and irrigated farm lands, the Gem State can provide companies with the right environment to help their businesses thrive. In addition, Idaho's diverse landscape is a prime research ground for companies to test their products in the environments where they would be used. Tourism Idaho acts as a primarily leisure-travel state. Building Idaho's economy by increasing visitor expenditures throughout the state is the goal of Idaho Department of Commerce's Tourism Development Division. The division's activities are funded by a two percent lodging tax, paid by travelers and collected by the state's hotel, motel and private campground owners. Tax collections have grown to over $9 million annually. Forty-five percent of the funds are used for statewide programs targeted to international and domestic consumers, tour operators, travel agents, travel journalists, and film industry marketing. Another forty-five percent is distributed to non-profit local and regional tourism development organizations through the Idaho Regional Travel and Convention Grant Program. The remaining ten percent is used for administration of the division. According to the U.S.

dits, and tax exemptions. Organization The department consists of five divisions: marketing; tourism development; international business; commercial innovation; and economic development. Economic Development Division Business Development provides counseling, networking, and revenue generating opportunities for entrepreneurs and helps businesses retain and develop their workforce. Community Development evaluates the economic strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for local communities.

c growth. Industry experts have not reached a consensus on exactly when Moore's law will cease to apply. Microprocessor architects report that semiconductor advancement has slowed industry-wide since around 2010, slightly below the pace predicted by Moore's law. In September 2022, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang considered Moore's law dead, while Intel's then CEO Pat Gelsinger had the opposite view. History In 1959, Douglas Engelbart studied the projected downscaling of integrated circuit (IC) size, publishing his results in the article "Microelectronics, and the Art of Similitude". Engelbart presented his findings at the 1960 International Solid-State Circuits Conference, where Moore was present in the audience. In 1965, Gordon Moore, who at the time was working as the director of research and development at Fairchild Semiconductor, was asked to contribute to the thirty-fifth-anniversary issue of Electronics magazine with a prediction on the future of the semiconductor components industry over the next ten years. His response was a brief article entitled "Cramming more components onto integrated circuits".

The advent of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) technology The exponential rate of increase in die sizes, coupled with a decrease in defective densities, with the result that semiconductor manufacturers could work with larger areas without losing reduction yields Finer minimum dimensions What Moore called "circuit and device cleverness" Shortly after 1975, Caltech professor Carver Mead popularized the term Moore's law. Moore's law eventually came to be widely accepted as a goal for the semiconductor industry, and it was cited by competitive semiconductor manufacturers as they strove to increase processing power. Moore viewed his eponymous law as surprising and optimistic: "Moore's law is a violation of Murphy's law. Everything gets better and better." The observation was even seen as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The doubling period is often misquoted as 18 months because of a separate prediction by Moore's colleague, Intel executive David House. In 1975, House noted that Moore's revised law of doubling transistor count every 2 years in turn implied that computer chip performance would roughly double every 18 months, with no increase in power consumption. Mathematically, Moore's law predicted that transistor count would double every 2 years due to shrinking transistor dimensions and other improvements. As a consequence of shrinking dimensions, Dennard scaling predicted that power consumption per unit area would remain constant. Combining these effects, David House deduced that computer chip performance would roughly double every 18 months. Also due to Dennard scaling, this increased performance would not be accompanied by increased power, i.e., the energy-efficiency of silicon-based computer chips roughly doubles every 18 months. Dennard scaling ended in the 2000s. Koomey later showed that a similar rate of efficiency improvement predated silicon chips and Moore's law, for technologies such as vacuum tubes. Microprocessor architects report that since around 2010, semiconductor advancement has slowed industry-wide below the pace predicted by Moore's law. Brian Krzanich, the former CEO of Intel, cited Moore's 1975 revision as a precedent for the current deceleration, which results from technical challenges and is "a natural part of the history of Moore's law". The rate of improvement in physical dimensions known as Dennard scaling also ended in the mid-2000s. As a result, much of the semiconductor industry has shifted its focus to the needs of major computing applications rather than semiconductor scaling.

One of the key technical challenges of engineering future nanoscale transistors is the design of gates. As device dimensions shrink, controlling the current flow in the thin channel becomes more difficult. Modern nanoscale transistors typically take the form of multi-gate MOSFETs, with the FinFET being the most common nanoscale transistor. The FinFET has gate dielectric on three sides of the channel. In comparison, the gate-all-around MOSFET (GAAFET) structure has even better gate control. A gate-all-around MOSFET (GAAFET) was first demonstrated in 1988, by a Toshiba research team led by Fujio Masuoka, who demonstrated a vertical nanowire GAAFET that he called a surrounding gate transistor (SGT). Masuoka, best known as the inventor of flash memory, later left Toshiba and founded Unisantis Electronics in 2004 to research surrounding-gate technology along with Tohoku University. In 2006, a team of Korean researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the National Nano Fab Center developed a 3 nm transistor, the world's smallest nanoelectronic device at the time, based on FinFET technology. In 2010, researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Ireland announced a junctionless transistor. A control gate wrapped around a silicon nanowire can control the passage of electrons without the use of junctions or doping. They claim these may be produced at 10 nm scale using existing fabrication techniques. In 2011, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh announced the development of a single-electron transistor, 1.5 nm in diameter, made out of oxide-based materials. Three wires converge on a central island that can house one or two electrons. Electrons tunnel from one wire to another through the island. Conditions on the third wire result in distinct conductive properties including the ability of the transistor to act as a solid-state memory. Nanowire transistors could spur the creation of microscopic computers. In 2012, a research team at the University of New South Wales announced the development of the first working transistor consisting of a single atom placed precisely in a silicon crystal (not just picked from a large sample of random transistors). Moore's law predicted this milestone to be reached for ICs in the lab by 2020. In 2015, IBM demonstrated 7 nm node chips with silicon–germanium transistors produced using EUVL. The company believed this transistor density would be four times that of the then-current 14 nm chips. Samsung and TSMC plan to manufacture 3 nm GAAFET nodes by 2021–2022. Note that node names, such as 3 nm, have no relation to the physical size of device elements (transistors). A Toshiba research team including T. Imoto, M. Matsui and C. Takubo developed a system block module wafer bonding process for manufacturing three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) packages in 2001. In April 2007, Toshiba introduced an eight-layer 3D IC, the 16 GB THGAM embedded NAND flash memory chip that was manufactured with eight stacked 2 GB NAND flash chips. In September 2007, Hynix introduced 24-layer 3D IC, a 16 GB flash memory chip that was manufactured with 24 stacked NAND flash chips using a wafer bonding process. V-NAND, also known as 3D NAND, allows flash memory cells to be stacked vertically using charge trap flash technology originally presented by John Szedon in 1967, significantly increasing the number of transistors on a flash memory chip. 3D NAND was first announced by Toshiba in 2007. V-NAND was first commercially manufactured by Samsung Electronics in 2013. In 2008, researchers at HP Labs announced a working memristor, a fourth basic passive circuit element whose existence only had been theorized previously. The memristor's unique properties permit the creation of smaller and better-performing electronic devices. In 2014, bioengineers at Stanford University developed a circuit modeled on the human brain. Sixteen Neurocore chips simulate one million neurons and billions of synaptic connections, claimed to be 9000 times faster as well as more energy efficient than a typical PC. In 2015, Intel and Micron announced 3D XPoint, a non-volatile memory claimed to be significantly faster with similar density compared to NAND. Production scheduled to begin in 2016 was delayed until the second half of 2017. In 2017, Samsung combined its V-NAND technology with eUFS 3D IC stacking to produce a 512 GB flash memory chip, with eight stacked 64-layer V-NAND dies. In 2019, Samsung produced a 1 TB flash chip with eight stacked 96-layer V-NAND dies, along with quad-level cell (QLC) technology (4-bit per transistor), equivalent to 2 trillion transistors, the highest transistor count of any IC chip. In 2020, Samsung Electronics planned to produce the 5 nm node, using FinFET and EUV technology. In 2024, Samsung outlined it's roadmap to include production of a 2 nm chip in 2025. In May 2021, IBM announced the creation of the first 2 nm computer chip, with parts supposedly being smaller than human DNA. Microprocessor architects report that semiconductor advancement has slowed industry-wide since around 2010, below the pace predicted by Moore's law. Brian Krzanich, the former CEO of Intel, announced in 2015, "Our cadence today is closer to two and a half years than two." Intel stated in 2015 that improvements in MOSFET devices have slowed, starting at the 22 nm feature width around 2012, and continuing at 14 nm. Pat Gelsinger, former Intel CEO, stated at the end of 2023 that "we're no longer in the golden era of Moore's Law, it's much, much harder now, so we're probably doubling effectively closer to every three years now, so we've definitely seen a slowing." The physical limits to transistor scaling have been reached due to source-to-drain leakage, limited gate metals and limited options for channel material. Other approaches are being investigated, which do not rely on physical scaling. These include the spin state of electron spintronics, tunnel junctions, and advanced confinement of channel materials via nano-wire geometry.

and OLED displays. The fabrication process is performed in highly specialized semiconductor fabrication plants, also called foundries or "fabs", with the central part being the "clean room". In more advanced semiconductor devices, such as modern 14/10/7 nm nodes, fabrication can take up to 15 weeks, with 11–13 weeks being the industry average. Production in advanced fabrication facilities is completely automated, with automated material handling systems taking care of the transport of wafers from machine to machine. A wafer often has several integrated circuits, which are called dies as they are pieces diced from a single wafer. Individual dies are separated from a finished wafer in a process called die singulation, also called wafer dicing. The dies can then undergo further assembly and packaging. Within fabrication plants, the wafers are transported inside special sealed plastic boxes called FOUPs. FOUPs in many fabs contain an internal nitrogen atmosphere which helps prevent copper from oxidizing on the wafers. Copper is used in modern semiconductors for wiring. The insides of the processing equipment and FOUPs is kept cleaner than the surrounding air in the cleanroom. This internal atmosphere is known as a mini-environment and helps improve yield, which is the number of working devices on a wafer. This mini environment is within an EFEM (equipment front end module) which allows a machine to receive FOUPs, and introduces wafers from the FOUPs into the machine. Additionally, many machines also handle wafers in clean nitrogen or vacuum environments to reduce contamination and improve process control. Fabrication plants need large amounts of liquid nitrogen to maintain the atmosphere inside production machinery and FOUPs, which are constantly purged with nitrogen. There can also be an air curtain or a mesh between the FOUP and the EFEM which helps reduce the amount of humidity that enters the FOUP and improves yield.

l part being the "clean room". In more advanced semiconductor devices, such as modern 14/10/7 nm nodes, fabrication can take up to 15 weeks, with 11–13 weeks being the industry average. Production in advanced fabrication facilities is completely automated, with automated material handling systems taking care of the transport of wafers from machine to machine. A wafer often has several integrated circuits, which are called dies as they are pieces diced from a single wafer. Individual dies are separated from a finished wafer in a process called die singulation, also called wafer dicing. The dies can then undergo further assembly and packaging. Within fabrication plants, the wafers are transported inside special sealed plastic boxes called FOUPs. FOUPs in many fabs contain an internal nitrogen atmosphere which helps prevent copper from oxidizing on the wafers. Copper is used in modern semiconductors for wiring. The insides of the processing equipment and FOUPs is kept cleaner than the surrounding air in the cleanroom. This internal atmosphere is known as a mini-environment and helps improve yield, which is the number of working devices on a wafer. This mini environment is within an EFEM (equipment front end module) which allows a machine to receive FOUPs, and introduces wafers from the FOUPs into the machine. Additionally, many machines also handle wafers in clean nitrogen or vacuum environments to reduce contamination and improve process control. Fabrication plants need large amounts of liquid nitrogen to maintain the atmosphere inside production machinery and FOUPs, which are constantly purged with nitrogen. There can also be an air curtain or a mesh between the FOUP and the EFEM which helps reduce the amount of humidity that enters the FOUP and improves yield.

In 1955, Carl Frosch and Lincoln Derick, working at Bell Telephone Laboratories, accidentally grew a layer of silicon dioxide over the silicon wafer, for which they observed surface passivation effects. By 1957 Frosch and Derick, using masking and predeposition, were able to manufacture silicon dioxide transistors; the first planar field effect transistors, in which drain and source were adjacent at the same surface. At Bell Labs, the importance of their discoveries was immediately realized. Memos describing the results of their work circulated at Bell Labs before being formally published in 1957. At Shockley Semiconductor, Shockley had circulated the preprint of their article in December 1956 to all his senior staff, including Jean Hoerni, who would later invent the planar process in 1959 while at Fairchild Semiconductor. In 1948, Bardeen patented an insulated-gate transistor (IGFET) with an inversion layer; Bardeen's concept forms the basis of MOSFET technology today. An improved type of MOSFET technology, CMOS, was developed by Chih-Tang Sah and Frank Wanlass at Fairchild Semiconductor in 1963. CMOS was commercialised by RCA in the late 1960s. RCA commercially used CMOS for its 4000-series integrated circuits in 1968, starting with a 20 μm process before gradually scaling to a 10 μm process over the next several years. Many early semiconductor device manufacturers developed and built their own equipment such as ion implanters. In 1963, Harold M. Manasevit was the first to document epitaxial growth of silicon on sapphire while working at the Autonetics division of North American Aviation (now Boeing). In 1964, he published his findings with colleague William Simpson in the Journal of Applied Physics. In 1965, C.W. Mueller and P.H. Robinson fabricated a MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor) using the silicon-on-sapphire process at RCA Laboratories. Semiconductor device manufacturing has since spread from Texas and California in the 1960s to the rest of the world, including Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Wafer size has grown over time, from 25 mm (1 inch) in 1960, to 50 mm (2 inches) in 1969, 100 mm (4 inches) in 1976, 125 mm (5 inches) in 1981, 150 mm (6 inches) in 1983 and 200 mm in 1992. In the era of 2-inch wafers, these were handled manually using tweezers and held manually for the time required for a given process. Tweezers were replaced by vacuum wands as they generate fewer particles which can contaminate the wafers. Wafer carriers or cassettes, which can hold several wafers at once, were developed to carry several wafers between process steps. However, since wafers still had to be individually removed, processed, and returned, acid-resistant carriers were later introduced so the entire cassette could be dipped directly into wet etching and cleaning tanks, eliminating this time-consuming process. When wafer sizes increased to 100 mm, the entire cassette would often not be dipped as uniformly, and the quality of the results across the wafer became hard to control. By the time 150 mm wafers arrived, the cassettes were not dipped and were only used as wafer carriers and holders to store wafers, and robotics became prevalent for handling wafers. With 200 mm wafers, manual handling of wafer cassettes becomes risky as they are heavier. In the 1970s and 1980s, several companies migrated their semiconductor manufacturing technology from bipolar to MOSFET technology. Semiconductor manufacturing equipment has been considered costly since 1978. In 1984, KLA developed the first automatic reticle and photomask inspection tool. In 1985, KLA developed an automatic inspection tool for silicon wafers, which replaced manual microscope inspection. In 1985, SGS (now STmicroelectronics) invented BCD, also called BCDMOS, a semiconductor manufacturing process using bipolar, CMOS and DMOS devices. Applied Materials developed the first practical multi-chamber, or cluster wafer processing tool, the Precision 5000. Until the 1980s, physical vapor deposition was the primary technique used for depositing materials onto wafers, until the advent of chemical vapor deposition. Equipment with diffusion pumps was replaced with those using turbomolecular pumps, as the latter do not use oil, which often contaminates wafers during processing in vacuum. 200 mm diameter wafers were first used in 1990 and became the standard until the introduction of 300 mm diameter wafers in 2000. Bridge tools were used in the transition from 150 mm wafers to 200 mm wafers and in the transition from 200 mm to 300 mm wafers. The semiconductor industry has adopted larger wafers to cope with the increased demand for chips as larger wafers provide more surface area per wafer. Over time, the industry shifted to 300 mm wafers which brought along the adoption of FOUPs, but many products that are not advanced are still produced in 200 mm wafers such as analog ICs, RF chips, power ICs, BCDMOS and MEMS devices. Some processes such as cleaning, ion implantation, etching, annealing and oxidation started to adopt single wafer processing instead of batch wafer processing to improve the reproducibility of results. A similar trend existed in MEMS manufacturing.

ence. DRAM typically takes the form of an integrated circuit chip, which can consist of dozens to billions of DRAM memory cells. DRAM chips are widely used in digital electronics where low-cost, high-capacity computer memory is required. One of the largest applications for DRAM is the main memory (colloquially called the RAM) in modern computers and graphics cards (where the main memory is called the graphics memory). It is also used in many portable devices and video game consoles. In contrast, SRAM, which is faster and more expensive than DRAM, is typically used where speed is of greater concern than cost and size, such as the cache memories in processors. The need to refresh DRAM demands more complicated circuitry and timing than SRAM. This complexity is offset by the structural simplicity of DRAM memory cells: only one transistor and a capacitor are required per bit, compared to four or six transistors in SRAM. This allows DRAM to reach very high densities with a simultaneous reduction in cost per bit. Refreshing the data consumes power, causing a variety of techniques to be used to manage the overall power consumption. For this reason, DRAM usually needs to operate with a memory controller; the memory controller needs to know DRAM parameters, especially memory timings, to initialize DRAMs, which may be different depending on different DRAM manufacturers and part numbers. DRAM had a 47% increase in the price-per-bit in 2017, the largest jump in 30 years since the 45% jump in 1988. In 2018, a "key characteristic of the DRAM market is that there are currently only three major suppliers — Micron Technology, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics" that are "keeping a pretty tight rein on their capacity". DRAM (DDR4, DDR, and flash memory/NAND) price has in early 2026 "experienced compounded increases, some exceeding 200%, since early 2025 .. [because of] unprecedented demand coming from the AI sector .. HBM is crowding out commodity DRAM capacity. Micron noted a 3-to-1 conversion ratio between HBM and DDR5 wafer capacity, meaning every HBM ramp directly compresses general-purpose memory supply." Other manufacturers make and sell DIMMs but not the DRAM chips in them, such as Kingston Technology, and some manufacturers sell stacked DRAM (used e.g. in the fastest supercomputers on the exascale) separately such as Viking Technology.

, a "key characteristic of the DRAM market is that there are currently only three major suppliers — Micron Technology, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics" that are "keeping a pretty tight rein on their capacity". DRAM (DDR4, DDR, and flash memory/NAND) price has in early 2026 "experienced compounded increases, some exceeding 200%, since early 2025 .. [because of] unprecedented demand coming from the AI sector .. HBM is crowding out commodity DRAM capacity. Micron noted a 3-to-1 conversion ratio between HBM and DDR5 wafer capacity, meaning every HBM ramp directly compresses general-purpose memory supply." Other manufacturers make and sell DIMMs but not the DRAM chips in them, such as Kingston Technology, and some manufacturers sell stacked DRAM (used e.g. in the fastest supercomputers on the exascale) separately such as Viking Technology.

) price has in early 2026 "experienced compounded increases, some exceeding 200%, since early 2025 .. [because of] unprecedented demand coming from the AI sector .. HBM is crowding out commodity DRAM capacity. Micron noted a 3-to-1 conversion ratio between HBM and DDR5 wafer capacity, meaning every HBM ramp directly compresses general-purpose memory supply." Other manufacturers make and sell DIMMs but not the DRAM chips in them, such as Kingston Technology, and some manufacturers sell stacked DRAM (used e.g. in the fastest supercomputers on the exascale) separately such as Viking Technology.

OM or battery-powered static RAM. A key disadvantage of flash memory is that it can endure only a relatively small number of write cycles in a specific block. NOR flash is known for its direct random-access capabilities, making it apt for executing code directly. Its architecture allows for individual byte access, facilitating faster read speeds compared to NAND flash. NAND flash memory operates with a different architecture, relying on a serial access approach. This makes NAND suitable for high-density data storage, but less efficient for random-access tasks. NAND flash is often employed in scenarios where cost-effective, high-capacity storage is crucial, such as in USB drives, memory cards, and solid-state drives (SSDs). The primary differentiator lies in their use cases and internal structures. NOR flash is optimal for applications requiring quick access to individual bytes, as in embedded systems for program execution. NAND flash, on the other hand, shines in scenarios demanding cost-effective, high-capacity storage with sequential data access. Flash memory is used in computers, PDAs, digital audio players, digital cameras, mobile phones, synthesizers, video games, scientific instrumentation, industrial robotics, and medical electronics. Flash memory has a fast read access time but is not as fast as static RAM or ROM. In portable devices, it is preferred to use flash memory because of its mechanical shock resistance, since mechanical drives are more prone to mechanical damage. Because erase cycles are slow, the large block sizes used in flash memory erasing give it a significant speed advantage over non-flash EEPROM when writing large amounts of data. As of 2019, flash memory costs much less than byte-programmable EEPROM and has become the dominant memory type wherever a system required a significant amount of non-volatile solid-state storage. EEPROMs, however, are still used in applications that require only small amounts of storage, e.g.

small number of write cycles in a specific block. NOR flash is known for its direct random-access capabilities, making it apt for executing code directly. Its architecture allows for individual byte access, facilitating faster read speeds compared to NAND flash. NAND flash memory operates with a different architecture, relying on a serial access approach. This makes NAND suitable for high-density data storage, but less efficient for random-access tasks. NAND flash is often employed in scenarios where cost-effective, high-capacity storage is crucial, such as in USB drives, memory cards, and solid-state drives (SSDs). The primary differentiator lies in their use cases and internal structures. NOR flash is optimal for applications requiring quick access to individual bytes, as in embedded systems for program execution. NAND flash, on the other hand, shines in scenarios demanding cost-effective, high-capacity storage with sequential data access. Flash memory is used in computers, PDAs, digital audio players, digital cameras, mobile phones, synthesizers, video games, scientific instrumentation, industrial robotics, and medical electronics. Flash memory has a fast read access time but is not as fast as static RAM or ROM. In portable devices, it is preferred to use flash memory because of its mechanical shock resistance, since mechanical drives are more prone to mechanical damage. Because erase cycles are slow, the large block sizes used in flash memory erasing give it a significant speed advantage over non-flash EEPROM when writing large amounts of data. As of 2019, flash memory costs much less than byte-programmable EEPROM and has become the dominant memory type wherever a system required a significant amount of non-volatile solid-state storage. EEPROMs, however, are still used in applications that require only small amounts of storage, e.g.

red to NAND flash. NAND flash memory operates with a different architecture, relying on a serial access approach. This makes NAND suitable for high-density data storage, but less efficient for random-access tasks. NAND flash is often employed in scenarios where cost-effective, high-capacity storage is crucial, such as in USB drives, memory cards, and solid-state drives (SSDs). The primary differentiator lies in their use cases and internal structures. NOR flash is optimal for applications requiring quick access to individual bytes, as in embedded systems for program execution. NAND flash, on the other hand, shines in scenarios demanding cost-effective, high-capacity storage with sequential data access. Flash memory is used in computers, PDAs, digital audio players, digital cameras, mobile phones, synthesizers, video games, scientific instrumentation, industrial robotics, and medical electronics. Flash memory has a fast read access time but is not as fast as static RAM or ROM. In portable devices, it is preferred to use flash memory because of its mechanical shock resistance, since mechanical drives are more prone to mechanical damage. Because erase cycles are slow, the large block sizes used in flash memory erasing give it a significant speed advantage over non-flash EEPROM when writing large amounts of data. As of 2019, flash memory costs much less than byte-programmable EEPROM and has become the dominant memory type wherever a system required a significant amount of non-volatile solid-state storage. EEPROMs, however, are still used in applications that require only small amounts of storage, e.g.

Micron Technology, Inc. is an American multinational semiconductor company that manufactures computer memory and computer data storage products, including dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), flash memory, High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and solid-state drives (SSDs). Founded in 1978 in Boise, Idaho, Micron is the only major American computer memory manufacturer. It is one of the "Big Three" computer memory manufacturers, along with the South Korean companies Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Micron marketed its consumer products under the brand Crucial, with the sub-brand Ballistix being used to denote products targeting gaming computers, until its disestablishment on 2026. Micron and Intel together created IM Flash Technologies, which produced NAND flash memory. It owned Lexar between 2006 and 2017. Sanjay Mehrotra has served as president and CEO of Micron since 2017. On May 26, 2026, Micron became the latest U.S.

Since 2000 In 2000, Gurtej Singh Sandhu and Trung T. Doan at Micron initiated the development of atomic layer deposition high-k films for DRAM memory devices. This helped drive cost-effective implementation of semiconductor memory, starting with 90 nm node DRAM. Pitch double-patterning was also pioneered by Gurtej Singh Sandhu at Micron during the 2000s, leading to the development of 30-nm class NAND flash memory, and it has since been widely adopted by NAND flash and RAM manufacturers worldwide. In 2002, Micron spun off its personal computer business as MPC Corporation and put it up for sale. The company found the business difficult as the number 12 American computer maker with only 1.3 percent of the market. Micron and Intel created a joint venture in 2005, based in IM Flash Technologies in Lehi, Utah. The two companies formed another joint venture in 2011, IM Flash Singapore, in Singapore. In 2012 Micron became sole owner of this second joint venture. In 2006 Micron acquired Lexar, an American manufacturer of digital media products. The company changed leadership again in June 2007 with COO Mark Durcan becoming president. In 2008, Micron converted the Avezzano chip fab, formerly a Texas Instruments DRAM fab, into a production facility for CMOS image sensors sold by Aptina Imaging. In 2008, Micron spun off Aptina Imaging, which was acquired by ON Semiconductor in 2014. Micron retained a stake in the spinoff. However, the core company suffered setbacks and had to layoff 15 percent of its workforce in October 2008, during which period the company also announced the purchase of Qimonda's 35.6 percent stake in Inotera Memories for $400 million. The trend of layoffs and acquisitions continued in 2009 with the termination of an additional 2,000 employees, and the acquisition of the FLCOS microdisplay company Displaytech. Micron agreed to buy flash-chip maker Numonyx for $1.27 billion in stock in February 2010. On February 3, 2012, CEO Appleton died in a plane crash shortly after takeoff from the Boise Airport. He was the pilot and sole occupant of the Lancair IV aircraft. Mark Durcan replaced Appleton as the CEO shortly thereafter, eliminating his former title of president. In 2013, the Avezzano chip fab was sold to LFoundry. In the 2012 to 2014 period, Micron again went through an acquisition-layoff cycle, becoming the majority shareholder of Inotera Memories, purchasing Elpida Memory for $2 billion and the remaining shares in Rexchip, a PC memory chip manufacturing venture between Powerchip and Elpida Memory for $334 million, while announcing plans to lay off approximately 3,000 workers. Through the Elpida acquisition, Micron became a major supplier to Apple Inc. for the iPhone and iPad. In December 2016 Micron finished acquiring the remaining 67 percent of Inotera, making it a 100 percent subsidiary of Micron. In April 2017, Micron announced Sanjay Mehrotra as the new president and CEO to replace Mark Durcan. In June 2017 Micron announced it was discontinuing the Lexar retail removable media storage business and putting some or all of it up for sale. In August of that year the Lexar brand was acquired by Longsys, a flash memory company based in Shenzhen, China. In May 2018, Micron Technology and Intel launched QLC NAND memory to increase storage density. The company ranked 150th on the Fortune 500 list of largest United States corporations by revenue. In February 2019, the first microSD card with a storage capacity of 1 terabyte (TB) was announced by Micron. As of March 2020 3.84TB Micron 5210 Ion is the cheapest large-capacity SSD in the world. In September 2020 the company introduced the world's fastest discrete graphics memory solution. Working with computing technology leader Nvidia, Micron debuted GDDR6X in the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 and GeForce RTX 3080 graphics processing units (GPUs). In November 2020, the company unveiled a new 176-layer 3D NAND module. It offers improved read and write latency and is slated to be used in the production of a new generation of solid-state drives. On October 22, 2021, Micron closed the sale of IM Flash's Lehi, Utah fab to Texas Instruments for a sale price of US$900 million. In February 2022, Micron announced that it would discontinue its Ballistix gaming brand. With the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, Micron announced its pledge to invest billions in new manufacturing within the United States. In September 2022, Micron announced it would invest $15 billion in a new facility in Boise, Idaho. In October 2022, Micron announced a $100 billion expansion in Clay, New York. Micron Technology owed Netlist, Inc. $445 million in damages for infringing Netlist's patents related to memory-module technology for high-performance computing. The jury found that Micron's semiconductor-memory products violated two of Netlist's patents willfully, potentially allowing the judge to triple the damages. Netlist had sued Micron in 2022, accusing three of its memory-module lines of patent infringement, which Micron denied, also arguing the patents' invalidity. The U.S.

n since 2017. On May 26, 2026, Micron became the latest U.S. company to reach a US$1 trillion market capitalization, amid surging demand for its HBM chips. History 1978–1999 Micron was founded in Boise, Idaho, in 1978 by Ward Parkinson, Joe Parkinson, Dennis Wilson, and Doug Pitman as a semiconductor design consulting company. Startup funding was provided by local Idaho businessmen Tom Nicholson, Allen Noble, Rudolph Nelson, and Ron Yanke. Later it received funding from Idaho billionaire J. R. Simplot, whose fortune was made in the potato business. In 1981, the company moved from consulting to manufacturing with the completion of its first wafer fabrication unit ("Fab 1"), producing 64K DRAM chips. In 1984, the company had its initial public offering. Micron sought to enter the market for RISC processors in 1991 with a product known as FRISC, targeting embedded control and signal processing applications. Running at 80 MHz and described as "a 64-bit processor with fast context-switching time and high floating-point performance", the design supported various features for timely interrupt handling and featured an arithmetic unit capable of handling both integer and floating-point calculations with a claimed throughput of 80 MFLOPS for double-precision arithmetic. Micron aimed to provide a "board-level demonstration supercomputer" in configurations with 256 MB or 1 GB of RAM. Having set up a subsidiary and with the product being designed into graphics cards and accelerators, Micron concluded in 1992 that the effort would not deliver the "best bang for the buck", reassigning engineers to other projects and discontinuing the endeavour. In 1994, founder Joe Parkinson retired as CEO and Steve Appleton took over as Chairman, President, and CEO. A 1996 3-way merger among ZEOS International, Micron Computer, and Micron Custom Manufacturing Services (MCMS) increased the size and scope of the company; this was followed rapidly with the 1997 acquisition of NetFrame Systems, in a bid to enter the mid-range server industry.

The gross state product (state GDP) for the state of Idaho was $128.1 billion in 2024, and the state's per capita income that year was $61,836. Idaho has the 46th highest GDP per capita in the United States of America.Idaho is an important agricultural state, generating billions of dollars per year in commodities such as dairy products, cattle, and potatoes. It is the top potato-producing state in the United States, and almost one-third of the nation's potatoes are grown in the Snake River Plain, a belt of low-lying land that extends across southern Idaho. Three major varieties of wheat—dark northern spring, hard red, and soft white—are grown in the state. Important industries in Idaho are food processing, lumber and wood products, machinery, chemical products, paper products, electronics manufacturing, silver and other mining, and tourism. The world's largest factory for barrel cheese, the raw product for processed cheese, is in Gooding, Idaho.

electronics manufacturing, silver and other mining, and tourism. The world's largest factory for barrel cheese, the raw product for processed cheese, is in Gooding, Idaho. The facility has an annual capacity of 120,000 metric tons and is owned by the Glanbia Group. History As Idaho neared statehood, mining and other extractive industries played a significant role in its economy. Although the state's reliance on mining has diminished over time, Idaho remains renowned as "The Gem State" due to its production of seventy-two varieties of precious and semi-precious stones. Idaho is a leading national producer of potatoes, trout, Austrian winter peas, and lentils.

rn Idaho. Three major varieties of wheat—dark northern spring, hard red, and soft white—are grown in the state. Important industries in Idaho are food processing, lumber and wood products, machinery, chemical products, paper products, electronics manufacturing, silver and other mining, and tourism. The world's largest factory for barrel cheese, the raw product for processed cheese, is in Gooding, Idaho.

High-performance computing (HPC) is the use of supercomputers and computer clusters to solve advanced problems. Overview HPC integrates systems administration (including network and security knowledge), parallel computing and distributed computing into a multidisciplinary field that combines digital electronics, computer architecture, system software, programming languages, algorithms and computational techniques. HPC technologies are the tools and systems used to implement and create high performance computing systems. Since around 2005, HPC systems have shifted from supercomputing to computing clusters and grids. Because of the need of networking in clusters and grids, High Performance Computing Technologies are achieved by the use of a collapsed network backbone, because the collapsed backbone architecture is simple to troubleshoot and upgrades can be applied to a single router as opposed to multiple ones. HPC integrates with data analytics in AI engineering workflows to generate new data streams that increase a simulation's ability to answer the "what if" questions. The term is most commonly associated with computing used for scientific research or computational science. A related term, high-performance technical computing (HPTC), generally refers to the engineering applications of cluster-based computing (such as computational fluid dynamics and the building and testing of virtual prototypes). HPC has also been applied to business uses such as data warehouses, line of business (LOB) applications, and transaction processing. High-performance computing (HPC) as a term arose after the term "supercomputing". HPC is sometimes used as a synonym for supercomputing; but, in other contexts, "supercomputer" is used to refer to a more powerful subset of "high-performance computers", and the term "supercomputing" becomes a subset of "high-performance computing". The potential for confusion over the use of these terms is apparent. Because most current applications are not designed for HPC technologies but are retrofitted, they are not designed or tested for scaling to more powerful processors or machines. Since networking clusters and grids use multiple processors and computers, these scaling problems can cripple critical systems in future supercomputing systems. Therefore, either the existing tools do not address the needs of the high performance computing community or the HPC community is unaware of these tools.

structural engineering for building design the simulation of car crashes for structural design molecular interaction for new drug design the airflow over automobiles or airplanes climate modeling and weather prediction genetic research and DNA sequencing robotics and autonomous vehicle development electromagnetic simulations for wireless communication In government and research institutions, scientists simulate galaxy formation and evolution, fusion energy, and global warming, as well as work to create more accurate short- and long-term weather forecasts.

TOP500 ranks the world's 500 fastest high-performance computers, as measured by the High Performance LINPACK (HPL) benchmark. Not all existing computers are ranked, either because they are ineligible (e.g., they cannot run the HPL benchmark) or because their owners have not submitted an HPL score (e.g., because they do not wish the size of their system to become public information, for defense reasons). In addition, the use of the single LINPACK benchmark is controversial, in that no single measure can test all aspects of a high-performance computer. To help overcome the limitations of the LINPACK test, the U.S. government commissioned one of its originators, Jack Dongarra of the University of Tennessee, to create a suite of benchmark tests that includes LINPACK and others, called the HPC Challenge benchmark suite. This evolving suite has been used in some HPC procurements, but, because it is not reducible to a single number, it has been unable to overcome the publicity advantage of the less useful TOP500 LINPACK test.

Boise (locally also ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the county seat of Ada County. The population of the city was 235,685 at the 2020 census. The Boise metropolitan area, located in the Treasure Valley, includes five counties of Idaho with an estimated population of 846,000, the most populous metropolitan area in Idaho and 95th-most populous in the United States. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. Downtown Boise's elevation is 2,704 feet (824 m) above sea level. Boise is home to major employers in the technology, manufacturing, and service sectors, including companies such as Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard.

the Treasure Valley, includes five counties of Idaho with an estimated population of 846,000, the most populous metropolitan area in Idaho and 95th-most populous in the United States. Located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. Downtown Boise's elevation is 2,704 feet (824 m) above sea level. Boise is home to major employers in the technology, manufacturing, and service sectors, including companies such as Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard.

ise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. Downtown Boise's elevation is 2,704 feet (824 m) above sea level. Boise is home to major employers in the technology, manufacturing, and service sectors, including companies such as Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard.

Ultrapure water (UPW), high-purity water or highly purified water (HPW) is water that has been purified to stringent specifications. Ultrapure water is a term commonly used in manufacturing to emphasize the fact that the water is treated to the highest levels of purity for all contaminant types, including organic and inorganic compounds, dissolved and particulate matter, and dissolved gases, as well as volatile and non-volatile compounds, reactive and inert compounds, and hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds. In contrast to deionized (DI) water, UPW has organic particles and dissolved gases removed in addition to ions. Ultrapure water is typically prepared in three broadly-defined stages: pretreatment, primary treatment, and polishing/transport. While various industries use the term "ultrapure water", the exact definitions differ among industries. Standards for ultrapure water are defined by various groups for the power industry, semiconductor industry, and pharmaceutical industry.

Conductivity/resistivity In ultra-pure water systems, electrolytic conductivity or resistivity, which are reciprocals of each other, is used as a general indicator of water purity. Absolutely pure water has a conductivity of 0.05501 μS/cm and a resistivity of 18.18 MΩ⋅cm at 25 °C, and ultra-pure water is typically specified to approach or meet this target. Resistivity is highly sensitive to contamination by ions, and 0.1 ppb of sodium chloride decreases the resistivity to 18.11 MΩ⋅cm (equivalent to 0.05523 μS/cm). Ultrapure water is easily contaminated by traces of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere passing through tiny leaks or diffusing through thin wall polymer tubing when sample lines are used for measurement. Carbon dioxide forms conductive carbonic acid in water which dissociates into H+ and bicarbonate.

TOC Total organic carbon is measured by oxidizing organic molecules in the water to CO2 and measuring the increase in the CO2 concentration in the water after the oxidation. This change in carbon dioxide, or delta CO2, is used to determine concentration of organic carbon. Organic oxidation methods for TOC analysis Oxidation of organics to CO2 is most commonly achieved in liquid solutions by the creation of the highly oxidizing chemical species, the hydroxyl radical (OH•). Organic oxidation in a combustion environment involves the creation of other energized molecular oxygen species. For the typical TOC levels in UPW systems most methods utilize hydroxyl radicals in the liquid phase. There are multiple methods to create sufficient concentrations of hydroxyl radicals needed to completely oxidize the organics in water to CO2, each method being appropriate for different water purity levels. For typical raw waters feeding into the front end of an UPW purification system the raw water can contain TOC levels between 0.7 mg/L to 15 mg/L and require a robust oxidation method that can ensure there is enough oxygen available to completely convert all the carbon atoms in the organic molecules into CO2. Robust oxidation methods that supply sufficient oxygen include the following methods; Ultraviolet light (UV) & persulfate, heated persulfate, combustion, and super critical oxidation. Typical equations showing persulfate generation of hydroxyl radicals follows. S2O2−8 + hν (254 nm) → 2 SO−4• and SO−4 • + H2O → HSO−4 + OH • When the organic concentration is less than 1 mg/L as TOC and the water is saturated with oxygen UV light is sufficient to oxidize the organics to CO2, this is a simpler oxidation method. The wavelength of the UV light for the lower TOC waters must be less than 200 nm and is typically 184 nm generated by a low pressure Hg vapor lamp. The 184 nm UV light is energetic enough to break the water molecule into OH and H radicals. The hydrogen radicals quickly react to create H2.

jurisdiction over all the local county and city streets, except for private roads and state roads. In the interior Pacific Northwest east of the Cascade Range, Ada County ranks second in population, behind Spokane County, Washington. History Ada County was created by the Idaho Territory legislature on December 22, 1864, partitioned from Boise County. It is named for Ada Riggs, the daughter of H. C. Riggs, a member of the legislature; he established the county and was a co-founder of Boise.

94,967, which by 2025 was estimated to have risen to 546,141. Ada County is by far the state's most populous county; it is home to 26.8% of the state's population. The county seat and largest city is Boise, which is also the state capital. Ada County is included in the Boise metropolitan area. The Ada County Highway District has jurisdiction over all the local county and city streets, except for private roads and state roads.

History Ada County was created by the Idaho Territory legislature on December 22, 1864, partitioned from Boise County. It is named for Ada Riggs, the daughter of H. C. Riggs, a member of the legislature; he established the county and was a co-founder of Boise. Canyon County, which originally included Payette County and most of Gem County, was partitioned from western Ada County in 1891. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,060 square miles (2,700 km2), of which 1,053 square miles (2,730 km2) is land and 7.9 square miles (20 km2) (0.7%) is water. The Boise River flows through the northern portion of the county, and the northwest border is bounded by the foothills of the Boise Range mountains; the summits are in adjacent Boise County.

Kuna ( KYOO-nə) is a city in Ada County, Idaho. It is part of the Boise metropolitan area. The population was 24,011 at the time of the 2020 census. Kuna is one of the fastest-growing areas in Idaho, having nearly tripled in population between 2000 and 2010 and a nearly additional 60 percent gain between 2010 and 2020.

History Kuna originated as a railroad stop with coach transport to Boise. It is popularly believed, as cited by the Kuna Chamber of Commerce, that the translation of the name "Kuna" means "the end of the trail", but Charles S. Walgamott cites the origin of the name as a Shoshone Indian word meaning "green leaf, good to smoke." The Western Heritage Historic Byway, designated as a national as well as a state scenic byway, travels around a number of historic sites in the area. Geography Kuna's business center is approximately 18 miles (29 km) southwest of downtown Boise, the state capital. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.18 square miles (47.09 km2), of which 18.08 square miles (46.83 km2) is land and 0.10 square miles (0.26 km2) is water. South of Kuna is the Kuna Caves, a lava tube. A small seasonal creek, Indian Creek, runs through the city. It is now used as an irrigation canal, filled by the New York Canal from the Boise River Diversion Dam.

Geography Kuna's business center is approximately 18 miles (29 km) southwest of downtown Boise, the state capital. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.18 square miles (47.09 km2), of which 18.08 square miles (46.83 km2) is land and 0.10 square miles (0.26 km2) is water. South of Kuna is the Kuna Caves, a lava tube. A small seasonal creek, Indian Creek, runs through the city. It is now used as an irrigation canal, filled by the New York Canal from the Boise River Diversion Dam. One of the few small floatable waterways in the region, Indian Creek is a favorite swimming spot for local residents. Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 census, Kuna had a population of 24,011. The median age was 30.9 years. 31.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 8.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.2 males age 18 and over. 97.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 2.9% lived in rural areas. There were 7,736 households in Kuna, of which 48.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 62.3% were married-couple households, 11.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 17.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 13.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 7,948 housing units, of which 2.7% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.9%. As of the 2020 census, the median income for a household in the city was $68,017. Families had a median income of $75,296 versus $91,364 for married-couple families and $33,512 for nonfamily households.