of chips
with no formulas
Chip - an integrated circuit (IC, microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon.
- do not confuse with potatoes chip (slices of deep-fried potatoes) π
Seems that production of chips (I mean silicon chips π) as an industry becomes more and more interesting for a lot of people of different professions. For different reasons. However, not all understand what and how is produced resulting in a lot of fanny things (and good profit too).
Many papers, books were devoted to different sides of semiconductor industry. But most of them are so-o-o-o technical. For profy only. Therefore, I collected all my courage and decide to write a short review on How Chips are Produced avoiding special terms, formulas, etc. Just to show what is doing to provide a lot of funny things for everyone (and more over).
It all started with solid-state electronics. Note milestones: in 1948-1950 William Bradford Shockley created the theory of the transistor. Diodes and transistors based on semiconductor materials replaced tube devices. Germanium and silicon crystals became the basis of production. Electronics became more compact and - most importantly - their production became much easier / cheaper.
A little later (a little more than 10 years), the idea arose to produce not just elements, but standard functional blocks of electronic devices. The elements of these blocks (transistors, resistors, etc.) can be formed on one crystal, next to each other. And all needed electrical (inter-) connection ("wires") can be formed here too. This approach significantly increases the quality of electronic units and, at the same time, unify production. "Intermediate" stages were gone. What used to be assembled (soldered) from individual elements (adding their percentage of defects), now produced as a whole - in ready-made blocks. The throughput grows. And all that makes production chipper.
The era of microcircuits has begun. It was started and driven by Jack St. Clair Kilby, Kurt Legowitz, Robert Norton Noyce, Jean Ernie, Jay Last and other engineers and scientists. Someone invented a way to provide good electrical insulation between elements. Someone invented a better way to form metal connections between elements. Someone figured out how everything should be arranged ... Everyone's biography is interesting, as well as the history of their work, patent wars, the birth and growth of Silicon Valley, the ups and downs of companies, mergers and divisions β all this should be described by the new Dumas.
One of the key ideas is the arrangement of the chip elements on one plane. (Almost) as in a drawn electrical diagram. Only "draw" should not be on paper, but on the surface of silicon. And accurately repeat / reproduce the drawing many, many times. The technological process of "drawing" on the surface of a silicon crystal (expectedly π) was called lithography - by analogy with the technique of flat printing of drawings on stone known since the 18th century.
Next, we will very briefly consider only the most basic and understandable stages of creating chips. Without even listing all the technological processes. Why juggle terms that only specialists can understand? And if to get carried away with detailed explanations, it will turn out to be oh-so-long...
For those who are interested, the list of processes can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_device_fabrication