Semiconductors, wafers, photolithography, chips, integrated circuit concept applications
Release time:
2022-01-07
Starting with semiconductors, semiconductors are materials with conductivity between conductors (metals) and insulators (stones), including silicon and germanium. Due to silicon's 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. A transistor acts like a radio for data signals; the principle of a radio is to amplify weak signals and output them through a speaker, while a transistor can amplify the current of a signal, allowing the current to pass in a specific way. Hundreds of millions of transistors are packed onto a chip that is about half a centimeter in size, and this chip is the well-known 'integrated circuit'.
Starting with semiconductors, semiconductors are materials with conductivity between conductors (metals) and insulators (stones), including silicon and germanium. Due to silicon's large gaps that can be doped with impurities, it can be used to manufacture important semiconductor electronic components—transistors. The main functions of transistors include amplifying signals and switching; transistors act like radios for data signals, where the principle of a radio is to amplify weak signals and output them through a speaker, while transistors can amplify the current of signals, allowing the current to pass through in a specific manner.
Hundreds of millions of transistors are packed onto a chip that is about half a centimeter in size; this chip is the well-known 'integrated circuit', commonly referred to as IC (Integrated Circuit). Therefore, the chip is an abbreviation for integrated circuit and can also be referred to as a carrier.
The following text will be divided into four main parts:
· Semiconductor manufacturing process: 4 major steps
· Classification of integrated circuits: 4 major categories based on function
· Semiconductor industry chain operation model: pros and cons of various models
· Applications of semiconductors: 6 major fields of future applications
Semiconductor manufacturing process: 4 major steps
1. IC design:
Pre-planning the functions of the chip, which include arithmetic logic, memory functions, floating-point operations, and data transmission. Each function is distributed across various areas of the chip, and the necessary electronic components are manufactured. Engineers use hardware description language (HDL) to design circuit diagrams, and then input the HDL program into automated electronic design tools (EDA Tool), where the computer converts the program code into circuit diagrams.
2. Wafer manufacturing:
Silicon is purified and dissolved into a liquid state, then drawn into a columnar silicon crystal, which has a grid of silicon lattices. Transistors are placed on the silicon lattice, and the arrangement of the silicon lattice is a key factor in installing electronic components. The speed and temperature at which the silicon column is pulled affect its quality; the larger the size, the higher the technical difficulty. A 12-inch wafer factory is also relatively more advanced than an 8-inch wafer factory. The process is technical, but the yield is the most critical know-how. The wafer factory uses diamond saws to cut the entire silicon column into thin slices, which are polished to become 'wafers', the substrate of the chip. Dust poses a serious threat to these wafers, so manufacturing personnel must wear dust-proof clothing and clean their bodies as a preventive measure before entering the clean room. Wafer manufacturing is a hundred thousand times cleaner than an operating room.
3. Photolithography (mask production):
A large circuit design diagram is reduced and imprinted onto the silicon wafer, relying on optical principles.
The IC design diagram is etched onto a quartz plate using an electron beam, becoming a mask. The design on the mask is reduced onto the wafer, similar to the principle of developing photographs. The 'mask' is like a photographic negative, while the 'wafer' is like photographic paper. The wafer is pre-coated with a layer of photoresist (photosensitive material), and through ultraviolet light exposure and the focusing effect of a convex lens, the circuit structure on the mask is reduced and imprinted onto the wafer. The detail of the patterns on the mask is a key factor affecting the quality of the chip.
After the photolithography process is completed, engineers inject ions onto the wafer, controlling conductivity and a series of physical processes by injecting impurities into the silicon structure to manufacture transistors. Once the transistors, diodes, and other electronic components on the wafer are completed, copper is poured into grooves to form precise connections, linking many transistors together.
4. Packaging and testing:
Once the wafer is completed, it is sent to the packaging factory, where it is cut into individual bare chips. Since bare chips are small and thin, they are very easy to scratch, so they are mounted on a wire frame, and an insulating plastic or ceramic shell is placed on the outside, with the logo of the contracting manufacturer printed on it. Finally, chip testing is conducted to eliminate defective products, and the chip is thus completed.
Classification of integrated circuits (IC): divided into 4 major categories based on function
1. Memory IC:
Mainly used for storing data,
commonly used in computers, game consoles, electronic dictionaries, etc. Examples include DRAM, SRAM, and NAND Flash, all of which belong to memory ICs.
2. Logic IC:
Mainly processes digital signals (0 and 1), including products such as central processing units (CPU), microprocessors (MPU), and graphics processing units (GPU).
3. Microcomponent IC:
Mainly responsible for communication tasks of peripheral devices and other components of the CPU, skilled in handling complex logical operations, primarily with digital or textual data.
4. Analog IC:
Mainly processes analog signals. Due to their ability to withstand high voltage and large current, they are mainly used in power supplies, digital-to-analog converters, etc. The semiconductor industry chain operation model: pros and cons of various models. Early semiconductor companies often handled IC design, manufacturing, packaging, and testing all in-house. Due to Moore's Law, chip design has become increasingly complex and costly, making it impossible for a single semiconductor company to bear the high R&D and manufacturing costs from upstream to downstream. By the late 1980s, the semiconductor industry gradually moved towards a specialized division of labor model, creating greater profits and improving product stability.
※ Moore's Law:
Proposed by Gordon Earle Moore, one of the founders of Intel, the number of transistors that can be accommodated on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every 18 months, and performance also improves by a factor of two.
Based on the nature of the business, the semiconductor industry is mainly divided into the following 4 operating models.
1. Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM) model:
Integrates multiple industry chain links such as chip design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, and sales, requiring substantial operating capital to support this operating model, so currently only a few large companies can maintain it.
Advantages: a. Optimization in design, manufacturing, and other aspects b. Ability to experiment and implement new technologies
Disadvantages: High operating costs
Representatives: Samsung, Intel
2. Foundry Model:
Only responsible for manufacturing, packaging, and testing, can serve multiple design manufacturers simultaneously, but is limited by supplier competition, and must pay special attention to the leakage of client confidential technology. The main competitiveness of foundries comes from large-scale production and production control.
Advantages: a. Does not bear the risks of circuit design, product sales, etc. b. Relatively stable profits
Disadvantages: a. Reliant on physical assets, high capital requirements b. Requires substantial capital to maintain process levels
Representatives: TSMC, UMC, ASE, SPIL
3. Fabless IC Design Model:
Only responsible for chip circuit design and sales, outsourcing production, packaging, and testing, initially with a small capital scale and relatively low entry barriers.
Advantages: a. No large physical assets, small founding scale b. Low operating costs for the enterprise
Disadvantages: a. Cannot achieve upstream and downstream integration b. Needs to build a brand and bear sales risks
Representatives: Qualcomm, MediaTek
4. Chip Design Service Provider Model:
Provides corresponding tools, circuit design architecture, consulting services, etc., to chip design companies, does not design or sell chips, but sells intellectual property—design blueprints, also known as silicon intellectual property (SIP).
Advantages: a. No large physical assets, smaller scale b. Does not have to bear sales risks
Disadvantages: a. Easy to form monopolies b. High technical barriers, long accumulation of technical time
Representatives: ARM, Synopsys, Imagination
Semiconductor Application Fields: Future Applications in 6 Major Areas
According to the International Semiconductor Industry Association, semiconductors will mainly be applied in smart transportation, smart healthcare, 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 smart vehicle driving assistance safety systems is increasingly high, utilizing backend AI chip computing, from receiving sensing signals, through computational analysis, to communicating with the vehicle's power system, achieving the needs for safe avoidance and reaching destinations, realizing the vision of fully automated driving. Industrial manufacturing is evolving from digitalization to fully automated production, introducing IoT systems into production management systems, promoting a new era of industrial smart manufacturing, driving overall semiconductor market demand.
In the future, 5G, AI, and the semiconductor industry are closely related. The arrival of the 5G era will drive the demand for surrounding semiconductor products, such as the demand for 5G mobile phones reaching nearly 200 million units, leading to another wave of replacement. AI intelligence requires substantial computing power, necessitating continuous innovation in wafer technology to adapt to rapid technological changes, and the semiconductor industry is expected to reach new heights.
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