Semiconductor, wafer, lithography, chip, integrated circuit concept application
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- Time of issue:2022-01-07 18:01
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(Summary description)Start with semiconductors, which are substances whose conductivity is between conductors (metals) and insulators (stones), including silicon and germanium. Because silicon has large gaps that can be doped with impurities, it can be used to manufacture important semiconductor electronic components—transistors. The main functions of transistors are to amplify signals and switch. Transistors are like radios for data signals. The principle of radio is to amplify weak signals. , released from the speaker, and the transistor can amplify the current of the signal, allowing the current to pass through in a specific way.
Semiconductor, wafer, lithography, chip, integrated circuit concept application
(Summary description)Start with semiconductors, which are substances whose conductivity is between conductors (metals) and insulators (stones), including silicon and germanium. Because silicon has large gaps that can be doped with impurities, it can be used to manufacture important semiconductor electronic components—transistors. The main functions of transistors are to amplify signals and switch. Transistors are like radios for data signals. The principle of radio is to amplify weak signals. , released from the speaker, and the transistor can amplify the current of the signal, allowing the current to pass through in a specific way.
- Categories:Industry Trends
- Author:
- Origin:
- Time of issue:2022-01-07 18:01
- Views:
Information
Start with semiconductors, which are substances whose conductivity is between conductors (metals) and insulators (stones), including silicon and germanium. Because silicon has large gaps that can be doped with impurities, it can be used to manufacture important semiconductor electronic components—transistors. The main functions of transistors are to amplify signals and switch. Transistors are like radios for data signals. The principle of radio is to amplify weak signals. , released from the speaker, and the transistor can amplify the current of the signal, allowing the current to pass through in a specific way.
Hundreds of millions of transistors are mounted on a chip with a length and width of about half a centimeter. This chip is the well-known "integrated circuit", commonly known as IC (Integrated Circuit). Therefore, the chip is the abbreviation of integrated circuit, or it can be said to be a carrier.
The following article will be divided into four parts:
Semiconductor process: 4 major steps
· Classification of integrated circuits: functionally divided into 4 categories
· Semiconductor industry chain operation model: the advantages and disadvantages of various models
· Semiconductor application areas: 6 major areas of future applications
Semiconductor Process: 4 Big Steps
1. IC Design:
The functions of the chip are planned in advance. The functions include arithmetic logic, memory function, floating-point operation, and data transmission. Each function is distributed in each area on the chip, and the required electronic components are produced. The engineer uses the hardware description language (HDL) to design the circuit diagram, and in Put the HDL code into an automated electronic design tool (EDA Tool), and the computer converts the code into a circuit diagram.
2. Wafer fabrication:
Purify and dissolve the silicon into a liquid state, and pull it into a column-shaped silicon crystal column with a silicon lattice on it. Place the transistor on the silicon lattice. The arrangement of the silicon lattice is an important key to installing electronic components. The speed and temperature of the crystal column pulling up affect the quality of the silicon crystal column. The larger the size, the higher the technical difficulty. The 12-inch fab is also more advanced than the 8-inch fab process. The process is technology, but the yield is the key. The most critical Know-how, the fab uses a diamond knife to cut the entire silicon crystal column into thin slices, and after polishing, it becomes a "wafer", which is the board of the chip. Dust poses a serious threat to these wafers. Therefore, before entering the clean room, manufacturing personnel must wear dustproof clothing, wash their bodies and take preventive measures. Wafer manufacturing is 100,000 times cleaner than the operating room.
3. Photolithography (mask):
A large sheet of circuit design, scaled down and imprinted onto a silicon wafer, relies on optical principles.
The IC design drawing is engraved on the quartz wafer by electron beam, which becomes a photomask. The design drawing on the photomask is reduced to the wafer. The principle is the same as that of the photocopying photo. The "mask" is like a photographic film, and the "wafer" is like a photo. Paper, pre-coat the wafer with a layer of photoresist (photo-sensitive material), through ultraviolet light irradiation and convex lens condensing effect, the circuit structure on the photomask is reduced and stamped on the wafer, the pattern on the photomask is meticulous Degree is the key to affecting chip quality.
After the lithography process is complete, engineers add ions to the wafer, and control conductivity and a series of physical processes by implanting impurities into the silicon structure to create transistors. After the transistors, diodes, and other electronic components on the wafer are fabricated, copper is poured into the grooves to form precise wiring to connect many transistors.
4. Packaging and testing:
After the wafer is completed and sent to the packaging factory, it will be cut into pieces of bare die. Because the bare die is small and thin, it is very easy to be scratched, so the bare die is installed on the lead frame, and an insulating plastic body or ceramic shell is installed on the outside. , print the logo of the entrusted manufacturing company, and finally conduct chip testing, pick out defective products, and the chip is completed.
Integrated circuit (IC) classification: divided into 4 categories by function
1. Memory IC:
Mainly used to store the original documents,
Usually used in computers, video game instruments, electronic dictionaries and so on. Like DRAM, SRAM, and NAND Flash, they all belong to memory ICs.
2. Logic IC:
It mainly deals with digital signals (0 and 1). The products include central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor (MPU), and graphics processing unit (GPU).
3. Micro component IC:
The main function is to be responsible for the communication tasks of the peripheral equipment of the CPU and other components, and is good at processing complex logical operations, mainly digital or text data.
4. Analog IC:
ICs that mainly deal with analog signals are mainly used in power supplies, digital analog converters, etc. because they can withstand high voltage and high current. Operation mode of the semiconductor industry chain: the advantages and disadvantages of various modes, early semiconductor companies are mostly from IC design, manufacturing, packaging, and testing are all handled by one hand. Due to Moore's Law, chip design is becoming more and more complex and the cost is getting higher and higher. A single semiconductor company cannot afford the high R&D and production costs from upstream to downstream. By 1980 At the end of the period, the semiconductor industry gradually moved towards a professional division of labor mode, creating greater profits and improving product stability.
※Moore's Law:
According to Gordon Earle Moore, one of the founders of Intel, the number of transistors that can be accommodated on an integrated circuit will double about every 18 months, and the performance will also double.
According to the nature of the business, the semiconductor industry is mainly divided into the following four business models
1. Integrated Manufacturer (IDM) model:
Combining multiple industrial chain links such as chip design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, and sales requires strong working capital to support this operating model, so currently only a few large manufacturers can maintain it.
Advantages: a. Optimized in design, manufacturing, etc. b. Can experiment and implement new technologies first
Disadvantage: high operating costs
Representative: Samsung, Intel
2. Foundry mode:
Only responsible for manufacturing, packaging, and testing, and can serve multiple design manufacturers at the same time, but due to the competition of suppliers, special attention should be paid to the leakage of customer confidential technology. The main competitiveness of foundries comes from large-scale production , Production control.
Advantages: a. No risk of designing circuits, commodity sales, etc. b. Relatively stable profits
Disadvantages: a. Rely on physical assets, large capital demand b. Need a lot of capital to maintain the technological level
Representatives: TSMC, UMC, ASE, Silicon Products
3. Fabless mode:
Only responsible for chip circuit design and sales, outsourcing production, packaging, and testing. Initially, the scale of funds was small, and the entry threshold was relatively low.
Advantages: a. No huge physical assets, small start-up scale b. Low operating cost of the enterprise
Disadvantages: a. Unable to integrate upstream and downstream b. Need to build a brand and take sales risks
Representative: Qualcomm, MediaTek
4. Chip design service provider (Design Service) mode:
Provide corresponding tools, circuit design architecture, consulting services, etc. for chip design companies. Instead of designing and selling chips, it sells intellectual property rights—design drawings, also known as Silicon Intellectual Property (SIP).
Advantages: a. No huge physical assets, small scale b. No need to bear the risk of sales
Disadvantages: a. It is easy to form a monopoly b. The technical threshold is high, and the accumulated technical time is long
Representative: ARM, Synopsys, Imagination
Semiconductor application areas: 6 major areas of future applications
According to the International Semiconductor Industry Association, semiconductors will be mainly used in smart transportation, smart medical care, smart data, smart manufacturing, green manufacturing and advanced manufacturing in the future. Transportation and industrial manufacturing are the two main driving forces. The level of intelligent vehicle driving assistance safety system is getting higher and higher. With the back-end AI chip calculation, from receiving the sensing signal, through calculation and analysis, and then transmitting it to the vehicle power system, it can complete the needs of safety avoidance and arrival at the destination, and achieve full Autonomous driving vision. Industrial manufacturing has evolved from digitalization to fully automatic production, and the Internet of Things system has been introduced into the production management system to promote a new era of industrial smart manufacturing and drive the overall semiconductor market demand.
In the future, 5G, AI and the semiconductor industry are closely related. The advent of the 5G era will drive the entire semiconductor peripheral products. For example, the market demand for 5G smartphones is nearly 200 million units, which will bring another wave of replacements. AI intelligence requires a large amount of computing power. , so that the wafer technology needs to be constantly innovated to adapt to the rapid changes in technology, and the semiconductor industry is expected to reach another peak in the future.
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Semiconductor, wafer, lithography, chip, integrated circuit concept application
Start with semiconductors, which are substances whose conductivity is between conductors (metals) and insulators (stones), including silicon and germanium. Because silicon has large gaps that can be doped with impurities, it can be used to manufacture important semiconductor electronic components—transistors. The main functions of transistors are to amplify signals and switch. Transistors are like radios for data signals. The principle of radio is to amplify weak signals. , released from the speaker, and the transistor can amplify the current of the signal, allowing the current to pass through in a specific way.
Understand the role of inductors and the functions and uses of inductors
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Low-inductance custom power resistors for energy technology
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How to choose a chip transistor
Selection of SMD transistors
There are several major problems in SMD triode applications:
The first is to use through-hole assembled triodes in the past, how to find the corresponding chip triodes;
The second is the triode model found on the parametric circuit that cannot be purchased in the market, and how to replace it. This is often a big problem for designers, developers and maintenance personnel in the application.
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