5 ms·

Wafters spend something like 3 months in continuous processing in a fab. Considering the extreme difficulty of the physics of the task and the scale of investme

Wafters spend something like 3 months in continuous processing in a fab. Considering the extreme difficulty of the physics of the task and the scale of investment into fabs where small improvements in speed would be worth billions, I would be very skeptical that any low hanging fruit remain for dramatic shortcuts of the process.

pjc50 4y ago
I think the actual process time is a lot shorter than that, but the dynamics of trying to (1) keep the fab 100% busy and (2) satisfy the most lucrative customers first mean that your job gets done at some point in a 3 month window.
- jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
  I am not an EE but my understanding is the time varies a bit based on complexity of the design (ie how many layers) but that even if you're willing to pay a multiple of the basic price the shortest you can expect is 2 months. There's physical steps that simply cannot be sped up more than partial inventory simply sitting around in a queue. Googling real quick agrees with that impression. There's just no way the current approach will get to the days turn around the top comment was betting will happen in a few years. If there was anything even remotely promising that with commercialization in a few years we'd all have heard about it loud and clear. Likewise, the support equipment, the chemicals involved. There's just no chance of current fab tech becoming a 3d printer like table top device. That would require a revolution even bigger than the original chip revolution.
- artemonster 4y ago
  Please dont assume, if you dont know. Growing oxide, doping silicon, depositing metal, grinding all take substantial time. Even if you do a magical „no logistics everything in one place machine fab“ it would still be months of non-stop operation to do 200-300 process steps required.
panick21_ 4y ago
I didn't know that, thanks for the information.

pjc50 4y ago

I think the actual process time is a lot shorter than that, but the dynamics of trying to (1) keep the fab 100% busy and (2) satisfy the most lucrative customers first mean that your job gets done at some point in a 3 month window.

jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
I am not an EE but my understanding is the time varies a bit based on complexity of the design (ie how many layers) but that even if you're willing to pay a multiple of the basic price the shortest you can expect is 2 months. There's physical steps that simply cannot be sped up more than partial inventory simply sitting around in a queue. Googling real quick agrees with that impression. There's just no way the current approach will get to the days turn around the top comment was betting will happen in a few years. If there was anything even remotely promising that with commercialization in a few years we'd all have heard about it loud and clear. Likewise, the support equipment, the chemicals involved. There's just no chance of current fab tech becoming a 3d printer like table top device. That would require a revolution even bigger than the original chip revolution.
artemonster 4y ago
Please dont assume, if you dont know. Growing oxide, doping silicon, depositing metal, grinding all take substantial time. Even if you do a magical „no logistics everything in one place machine fab“ it would still be months of non-stop operation to do 200-300 process steps required.

panick21_ 4y ago

I didn't know that, thanks for the information.