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silicon is the insulator. Just like rubber or platic coated electrical wires or cords are insulated.
Silicon is used for 3 very good reasons.
#1. It can be made so be so absolutely thin, it can be applied in layers in micro circuitry
#2. It can made as a liquid that solidifies, making it possible to create "printed circuit boards" Which are in essence layers of gold wire and silicon in a computer designed labyrinth that provide better speed, and uses less space.
#3. THERES LOTS OF IT AND IT'S CHEAP!
Silicon is a crystalline semiconductor, not an insulator. By adding impurities called dopants it can be made resistive, conductive, or into active devices like transistors. By oxidizing or nitriding it it can be made into an insulator.
In making modern chips, a large doped crystal of silicon about 4 feet long and a foot in diameter is grown, then sliced with diamond saws into 1 foot diameter 0.5 mm thick wafers. Using a process of photolithography areas are marked off for changing doping, insulating, or metallizing. As many as 3 dozen photolithographic steps may be needed to produce a circuit. The chips are then tested on the wafer then the wafer is "diced" with diamond saws. The good dice are then packaged and retested.
The main reason silicon is used is it is the most well behaved semiconductor and has insulating solid oxides. Germanium starts going into runaway conduction at too low a temperature and its oxides are conductive. Carbon has better high temperature characteristics than silicon, but its oxides are gasses. Binary semiconductors are often expensive or toxic to process (e.g. Gallium Arsenide).
Humans still design all integrated circuits, although they are now aided by computer software that can handle the boring place & route steps
What else can I help you with?
What type of material is used to make a memory chip?
silicon
Why is a silicon chip called silicon chip?
A silicon chip is named after the material it is made from, silicon. Silicon is a semiconductor material that is commonly used in electronics due to its ability to conduct electricity. The chip refers to the small piece of silicon that is integrated with electronic circuits to perform various functions.
What type of material is used to make chip?
The chips that make up a memory module for a computer are made with a substance called "silicon". Silicon comes from sand and yes that is the reason why that little area in central California was called "Silcon Valley".
Is a silicon chip a pure element?
No, a silicon chip is not a pure element. A silicon chip is made up of silicon as well as other materials such as dopants and conductive metals to function as a semiconductor in electronic devices.
Which element is used for manufacture of computer memory chips?
Silicon is the primary element used for the manufacture of computer memory chips. Silicon is a semiconductor material that can be easily manipulated to create integrated circuits and memory storage components like transistors and capacitors.
What kind of silicon is CPU made from?
Silicon chip
What is the best element used for creating memory cards?
Silicon
What is the other name of integrated chip?
Silicon chip, micro-chip, integrated circuit
What is a memory area on or near the microprocessor chip for the most frequently used data?
cache memory
When was the silicon chip invented?
The silicon chip was invented in 1961. It was invented by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce, and it revolutionized miniature technology.
What exactly is a computer chip in layman's terms?
The computer microprocessor (microchip or chip)places all the thinking parts of a computer, such as memory and central processing unit (CPU) onto a single silicon chip. It was invented in 1968 by American engineer Marcian Hoff.
What kinds of wafers are used at Intel to make computer chips?
pure silicon
