The word monolithic is derived from the Greek monos, meaning single and lithos, meaning stone.

Thus monolithic circuit is built into a single stone or single crystal i.e. in monolithic ICs, all circuit components, (both active and passive) and their interconnections are formed into or on the top of a single chip of silicon. This type of technology is ideal for manufacturing identical ICs in large quantities and, therefore, provides lowest per unit cost and highest order of reliability. Monolithic ICs are by far the most common type of ICs used in practice, because of mass production , lower cost and higher reliability.

Commercially available ICs of this type can be used as amplifiers, voltage regulators, AM receivers, TV circuits, and computer circuits. However, the monolithic circuits have the following limitations or drawbacks: Low power rating. Since monolithic ICs are of about the size of a discrete small-signal transistor, they typically have a maximum power rating of less than 1 watt. This limits their use to low-power applications.

Poorer isolation between components.

No possibility of fabrication of inductors.

 Small range of values of passive components used in the ICs. Lack of flexibility in circuit design as for making any variation in the circuit, a new set of masks is required.

As the name implies, the circuit is fabricated by interconnecting a number of individual chips. The active components are diffused transistors or diodes. The passive components may be group of diffused resistors or capacitors on a single chip, or they may be thin-film components. Wiring or a metalized pattern provides con-nections between chips. Hybrids ICs are widely used for high power audio amplifier applications from 5 W to more than 50 W. Like thin- and thick-film ICs, hybrid ICs usually have better performance than monolithic ICs. Although the process is too expensive for mass production, multi-chip techniques are quite economical for small quantity production. Based upon the active devices employed the ICs can be classified as bipolar ICs using bipolar active devices (BJT) and unipolar ICs using unipolar active devices like FET.

These devices are larger than monolithic ICs but smaller than discrete circuits.
These ICs can be used when power requirement is comparatively higher. With a thin-or thick-film IC, the passive components like resistors and capacitors are integrated, but the transistors and diodes are connected as discrete components to form a complete circuit. Therefore, commercially available thin- and thick-film circuits are combination of integrated and discrete components. The essential difference between the thin- and thick-film ICs is not their relative thickness but the method of deposition of film. Both have similar appearance, properties and general characteristics.