3 ms·
Chips primarily require silicon, which is not a rare-earth metal (it is rather abundant), but it takes a lot of expensive equipment and energy to purify it and
by conradev 4y ago
Chips primarily require silicon, which is not a rare-earth metal (it is rather abundant), but it takes a lot of expensive equipment and energy to purify it and slice it into wafers.
TSMC currently sources their wafers from Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Germany and others:
https://investor.tsmc.com/static/annualReports/2005/pic/E-3-3.pdf https://investor.tsmc.com/static/annualReports/2005/pic/E-3-...
(edit: that PDF is out of date, but the wafer supplier list largely isn't)
- j_walter 4y agoNo...chips are made on Silicon. What is required to make them into semiconductors requires a lot of special metals, gases and other chemicals. They source those things from around the globe...including Ukraine for things like noble gases.
- enraged_camel 4y ago>> https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/mining/whats-so-rare-about-rare-earth-elements/#:~:text=Nothing.,common%20in%20the%20Earth's%20crust https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/mining/whats-so-rare-about.... Rare earth metals aren't actually rare. They are called that because they were once thought rare. https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/mining/whats-so-rare-about-rare-earth-elements/#:~:text=Nothing.,common%20in%20the%20Earth's%20crust https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/mining/whats-so-rare-about....
- pkaye 4y agoI've read Spruce Pine, North Carolina has the world's purest source of natural quartz best suited for making silicon wafers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Pine_Mining_District https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruce_Pine_Mining_District