5 ms·
How does one of those die get made at all? It's such a minuscule small scale and it has such detail I cannot even comprehend how those components get "stamped"
by AbraKdabra 6y ago
How does one of those die get made at all? It's such a minuscule small scale and it has such detail I cannot even comprehend how those components get "stamped" there, it's black magic.
- swalsh 6y agoIt's not really "Stamped". It's more of a photographic process. My basic understanding is that they apply a photographic reactive chemical, expose it. From there they apply another chemical process to form an oxidation layer, and then use an acid process to "etch" away material creating channels of positively charged particles. Then they can apply a mask, and throw tiny amounts of metal which will become the gate.
- geerlingguy 6y agoThe process of photolithography [1] involves a lot of complex optics, and interestingly you find a lot of lens manufacturers involved in it since it involves a lot of steps where light (e.g. lasers in this case) gets passed through a set of very precise optics until it hits the wafer and etches in the correct pattern from a larger 'reference copy'. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photolithography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photolithography
- baybal2 6y agoActually, the process of actually "stamping" ICs mechanically is being pursued to make IC production even more cheaper. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoimprint_lithography https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoimprint_lithography
- auxym 6y agoI like this animation showing how a FET is fabricated using photolithography processes: https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/transistor/index.html https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/transistor/inde...
- blcArmadillo 6y agoThanks for sharing! It was really nice seeing each step of the process with a visualization.
- acomjean 6y agoFrom my partner who used to work at a fabless semiconductor: The chipmaking process starts with code. Veralog I think is still being used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verilog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verilog You get information from your fab (libraries about sizes of things so you can do layouts and simulation with very expensive software (https://www.synopsys.com https://www.synopsys.com) (fun exercise, try to get a price on their website...) Often you send your design to the fab to get some samples to test back. Wikipedia has a decent summary about how the chips are made https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_device_fabrication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_device_fabricati...
- kube-system 6y agoExtremely simplified answer: You know how a microscope makes a small image really big? You can also do the same in reverse -- take a big picture and project it really small. Use that idea to project your design on to your silicon, coated in a series of photosensitive chemicals that etch away the silicon until you have what you want.
- pjc50 6y agoIt is "just" photo-etching, with the big wrinkle that 40nm is way below the wavelength of light, so all sorts of clever tricks with diffraction have to be done to make it work.
- MarkusWandel 6y agoA quick google for "homemade integrated circuit" brings up http://sam.zeloof.xyz/first-ic/ http://sam.zeloof.xyz/first-ic/ At the very primitive end of the technology, integrated circuits can be made in the home workshop.
- amelius 6y agoBut the chemicals used are extremely nasty.
- ncmncm 6y agoRust remover ... oven cleaner ... acetone. Easier if you're not in a big hurry; then you can use dilute solutions. E.g., concentrated hydroflouric acid catalyzes dissolving flesh. But you can buy it in 1% solution at the hardware store.
- jml7c5 6y agoTake a watch of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGFhc8R_uO4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGFhc8R_uO4 The talk is a few years old, but that doesn't really matter because this chip was fabbed at 40 nm.