sThe chip shortage is constantly making headlines. As a result of the pandemic, on the one hand, the need for everyday electronics has increased in order to be able to maintain professional and private contact despite all the limitations. On the other hand, companies underestimated potential demand and asked for too little. The topic has also come into focus because leading semiconductor manufacturers TSMC and Samsung are headquartered in Taiwan and South Korea, in a region where China and America compete for influence. Finally, miniaturization has now reached a level – it’s a matter of tiny nanometer scales – causing experts to search for alternative “build methods” for chips so they can continue to ensure ever-increasing computing power. Why?
In the TV series “Raumschiff Orion” from the 1960s, the computer was referred to as the electronic brain. This term indicates that a computer can in fact possess the intelligence of a human brain. In fact, the performance of electronic systems has greatly evolved over the past 60 years, and calculations made in the 1970s can now be performed by computers filling entire rooms or even buildings on a mobile device on a smartphone.
