How a microchip is made?

Answer 1

How a microchip is made?

Microchips are built from wafers that consist of 99.9999% pure silicon. The silicon is made from common beach sand.

The chips are made in incredibly clean environments - the air is more than 1000 times purer than that of a hospital.

The silicon wafers are produced by a specialist company and sent to the chip manufacturer for processing.

The Silicon wafer consists of 4 layers.

A mask that is created during the design phase defines the cicuit pattern.

A mask is placed over the wafer, under a UV light. Patterns are repeatedly projected on the wafer, light can only reach the wafer through the openings.

The UV light reacts with the photoresist to create the circuit patterns.

Impurities are then implanted into areas of the wafer to alter the electrical properties of specific regions. This is called doping.

Electrical contacts are formed by masking and etching the wafer to provide links between the different layers.

Multiple layers of metal are applied to form the electrical connections between the chips's layers.

The final chip is housed in a protective case that contains wires to connect it to the computer's circuit boards.

.. More Info: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7081578.stm