Chip Manufacturing: The Metamorphosis of a Grain of Sand

At the heart of smartphones, computers, and cars are hidden chips the size of fingernails. They are made up of circuits a thousand times thinner than a human hair, and the manufacturing process is like carving a megacity into a grain of rice. The following is the whole process of the chip from silica sand to finished product:

Phase 1: Design the blueprint

IC design

Design House (Design House) use software to draw circuit diagrams and complete the layout of billions of transistors

Tape Out：The final design data is delivered to the mask factory

3.Mask manufacturing

The lithography machine etchs the circuit pattern on the quartz plate(Photomask)

A set of advanced chips requires 80-120 masks, each costing more than $50,000

Phase 2: Nanoscale engraving of the fab (FAB).

Preparation of raw materials

Silicon purification: sand and gravel are smelted into silicon ingots of 99.9999% purity(Ingot)

Wafer slicing: Silicon ingots are cut into 0.7 mm thick wafers (wafers), mainstream size 300 mm (12 inches)

Core Manufacturing Cycle (40-100 repetitions)

Oxidation/Deposition: High temperature oxidation to form an insulating layer(Oxidation)

Vapor deposition films(CVD/PVD)

Lithography - the "soul step" of chips：

Photoresist → Litho →Development

Graphic etching：

Etch the exposed area with plasma(Etch)

Ion implantation alters semiconductor properties(Ion Implantation)

Wash and remove the glue：

Photoresist Removal

Cleaning

0040-01973 REV.004 CHAMBER BOTTOM RADIANCE 200MM RTPw

Phase 3: Test & Packaging

CP Test：

The probe station contacts the chip pins to screen for failed circuits(WAT Test)

Bad chips are marked as ink dots(Ink Marking)

Cut the package：

(Die Bonding),(Wire Bonding),(Package)

Laser cutting of wafers into independent chip packaging factories is carried out(Dicing)

The ultimate test：

FT test: Simulates the actual working environment

Burn-in test: high temperature and high pressure aging to screen for early failure

0040-31942 Chamber Body, Etch, Oxide, Side Gas Feed

A digital cipher for chip manufacturing

Terms	Key figures
Wafer	The 12-inch wafer can cut 500+ chips
Clean Room	The air cleanliness is 1,000 times higher than that of the operating room
Time	It takes about 3 months from silica sand to finished product
Cost	The 5nm fab costs $20 billion

Chip fabrication is a marvel of physics and engineering: it manipulates atoms at the nanoscale and transmits information with wires 100 times thinner than spider silk. When you read this article on your mobile phone, you are holding the most sophisticated creation of mankind in the palm of your hand - this "silicon-based symphony" carrying tens of billions of transistors, which is the crystallization of science and technology after rigorous testing of thousands of processes.