BETA
Chapter 1
From beach sand to pure silicon
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Answer
Chapter 2
Designing the microscopic city
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Chapter 3
Printing with light in the cleanroom
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Chapter 4
Slicing, packaging, and testing the final chip
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YOUR GOAL
Master of How computer chips are made
Ch 3 · Printing with light in the cleanroom
steve Photolithography
We bounce the light off mirrors polished ultra-flat, To carve a billion pathways where the silicon's at.
steve Chemical acids or gases etch away the unprotected areas of the wafer, carving out the microscopic circuits.
steve Photolithography uses ultraviolet light to transfer circuit patterns from photomasks onto light-sensitive chemicals.
Fun Fact
Cleanroom standards: A single speck of household dust is like a giant boulder that can completely destroy a microchip circuit.
Glossary
photolithography (noun)
A process that uses light to transfer geometric patterns from a mask to a photosensitive substrate. Jay Lathrop patented the technique in 1957 while working on miniaturizing military transistor components.
A process that uses light to transfer geometric patterns from a mask to a photosensitive substrate. Jay Lathrop patented the technique in 1957 while working on miniaturizing military transistor components.
Quiz
What company is the world's sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines?
Quiz
What is the process of injecting foreign atoms into silicon to alter its conductivity?
Quiz
What color of light is often used in cleanroom lithography areas to prevent accidental exposure?