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Uhm no, absolutely not. The basic operational principle remained the same, but absolutely everything has been changed many times over. Trillions of dollars were

by kken 12y ago

Uhm no, absolutely not. The basic operational principle remained the same, but absolutely everything has been changed many times over. Trillions of dollars were invested to make it happen. The only constant is probably that it is still made on a silicon wafer. But even this wafer changed a lot, and I am not talking about its size. Would you also compare a horse carriage to a Tesla?

arbuge 12y ago
The wafer is a slab of polysilicon, and has been that way for a long time. Most of those trillions you mention were invested to make the lithography smaller, which is how you get more transistors into the same die. Edit: silicon, not poly silicon. Not sure why I said poly there...
- kken 12y ago
  No, simply no. ICs are made of monocrystalline silicon, not polysilicon. There have been massive efforts to understand how to make it cleaner (internal gettering) and how to get wafer mechanics under control (Nitrogen doping). That does not even touch the changes in production technology to go from 10 mm Wafers to 300 mm Wafers. (You just make them larger, right...) A lot of new concepts and materials have been introduced to ICs during the last decades. Especially since the 130 nm ground rule, lithography has not been the main limiter. Examples: Copper, Tungsten, Diffusion barriers, Silicide, Strained Silicon, High-k, metal gates, finfet, 3d integration etc...
  - kijiki 12y ago
    10 mm wafers? Were they ever that small? I've never heard of less than 1 inch...
- kragen 12y ago
  You probably said "polysilicon" because this chip has some polysilicon deposited on top.
- Tuna-Fish 12y ago
  The transistors used today are very different from the transistors used back then, not just in size but also in structure and materials. The silicon die is pretty much the only part of the system that has stayed the same -- everything else has been changed, one part at a time.
userbinator 12y ago
Would you also compare a horse carriage to a Tesla? I think it would be closer to a comparison between a car engine in the 1900s and one today. Lots of differences, but the basic principles remain the same and if you were to give someone from one time period a part from the other, they'd easily be able to see what it was.
- frozenport 12y ago
  No. Chemicals are different, structures are different, design is different (cmos), etching equipment is different. I am at a loss to name a recognizable thing.

by kken 12y ago

arbuge 12y ago

The wafer is a slab of polysilicon, and has been that way for a long time. Most of those trillions you mention were invested to make the lithography smaller, which is how you get more transistors into the same die. Edit: silicon, not poly silicon. Not sure why I said poly there...

kken 12y ago
No, simply no. ICs are made of monocrystalline silicon, not polysilicon. There have been massive efforts to understand how to make it cleaner (internal gettering) and how to get wafer mechanics under control (Nitrogen doping). That does not even touch the changes in production technology to go from 10 mm Wafers to 300 mm Wafers. (You just make them larger, right...) A lot of new concepts and materials have been introduced to ICs during the last decades. Especially since the 130 nm ground rule, lithography has not been the main limiter. Examples: Copper, Tungsten, Diffusion barriers, Silicide, Strained Silicon, High-k, metal gates, finfet, 3d integration etc...
- kijiki 12y ago
  10 mm wafers? Were they ever that small? I've never heard of less than 1 inch...
kragen 12y ago
You probably said "polysilicon" because this chip has some polysilicon deposited on top.
Tuna-Fish 12y ago
The transistors used today are very different from the transistors used back then, not just in size but also in structure and materials. The silicon die is pretty much the only part of the system that has stayed the same -- everything else has been changed, one part at a time.

userbinator 12y ago

Would you also compare a horse carriage to a Tesla? I think it would be closer to a comparison between a car engine in the 1900s and one today. Lots of differences, but the basic principles remain the same and if you were to give someone from one time period a part from the other, they'd easily be able to see what it was.

frozenport 12y ago
No. Chemicals are different, structures are different, design is different (cmos), etching equipment is different. I am at a loss to name a recognizable thing.