The tiny chips powering the global economy

They are everywhere. In our phones, our cars, our living rooms, our kitchens, at the office or in the factory. Most of the time invisible, they nevertheless fill our everyday lives. Electronic chips, collections of microscopic components (transistors, diodes, converters and more) etched onto a small piece of semiconductor material such as silicon or gallium arsenide, are all around us.

A smartphone contains more than 150 chips. An electric car has between 1,000 and 3,000. In a modern home, there can be as many as 5,000, including those found in electronic devices…