Mr. Moore made the observation about chip-making technology in 1965, and most semiconductor engineers now believe that the doubling rate will continue through at least the middle of the next decade.

He joined Fujitsu, Japan's largest computer company, as a semiconductor engineer in 1967 and reached the position of general manager of the electronic devices group last year.

Cadence Design Systems, which makes design software for semiconductor engineers, said pro forma net profit surged 44 percent from a year earlier, while revenue was flat.

A former semiconductor engineer, Mr. Palmer is known as a tough boss who on several occasions has made good on his promise to dismiss executives who did not meet targets.

To build denser chips, semiconductor engineers have also begun to build vertically as well as horizontally along the chip surface.

"You have semiconductor engineers, chemists, biologists, biochemists, and they all have to work together to produce something quite new."

This equipment must be operated by well trained semiconductor engineers.

Background radiation can corrupt data stored in memory chips, producing what semiconductor engineers call soft errors.

Her father retired as a semiconductor engineer for Harris Semiconductor in Bridgewater, N.J.

But semiconductor engineers have found it difficult to design analog circuits using CMOS.