Semiconductor Manufacturing Process

Semiconductors, sometimes referred to as computer chips or integrated circuits (ICs), contain numerous electrical pathways which are capable of connecting up to a billion transistors and other electronic components. These transistors store information on the semiconductors, either by holding an electrical charge or by holding little or no charge.
 

Silicon Wafers—
The Chip's Foundation

Almost all of today's computer chips are built on silicon wafers because silicon is

  • a natural semiconductor; it can conduct electricity or be converted to an insulator which prevents conduction

  • inexpensive and abundant; wafers are made of highly purified sand which has been refined to produce 99.9999% pure silicon.


[steps 1 and 2 below]
 

Semiconductor Fabrication—
Wafer Processing

Semiconductor manufacturers produce many kinds of ICs or chips. DRAMS microprocessors ASICs SDPs and more. The precise process followed to make a chip varies according to the chip type and manufacturing company. However all wafer processing involves six basic steps:

[steps 3-8 below]

Semiconductors—
The Final Product

Once wafer processing is complete, each chip (or die) on the wafer is tested for electrical performance, cut apart with wafer saws, and put into individual protective packages. Once packaged, chips are tested again to make sure they function properly before being shipped to distributors or placed in electronic products

[step 9 below].

Click on the numbers in the illustration to see more details about each step of the process.