Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As its name implies, microelectronics refers to the study and manufacture (or micro-fabrication) of very small electronic components and designs. Usually, but not always, this means micro-metric scale or smaller. These devices are typically made of semiconductor materials. Many components of normal electronic design are available in a microelectronic equivalent. These include transistors, capacitors, inductors, resistors, diodes and (naturally) insulators and conductors, all of which can be found in microelectronic devices. Unique wiring techniques such as wire binding are also often used in microelectronics because of the unusually small size of components, wires and pickups. This technique requires specialized equipment and is expensive.
Digital integrated circuits (ICs) consist mainly of transistors. Analog circuits usually contain resistors and capacitors. Inductors are used in some high frequency analog circuits, but tend to occupy large chip areas if they are used at low frequencies; Gyrators can replace them in many applications.
As the techniques have improved, the scale of microelectronic components has continued to decline. At smaller scales, the relative impact of the intrinsic properties of the circuit, such as interconnections, may become more significant. These are called parasitic effects, and the goal of the microelectronics design engineer is to find ways to offset or minimize these effects while delivering smaller, faster, and cheaper devices.