Semiconductor

Fabs = Factory – typical fab will have several hundred equipment items – usually > $2Billion
Clean Rooms = Controls Temperature, Humidity, Dust, damped for Vibration – High purity Air

Tools = Machines – Steppers for photolithography, etching, cleaning, doping, and dicing
Wafers = Produce ICs - 2014 the 300mm arrived and in 2020 the new 450mm – roughly 18” diameter
PCBs = Printed Circuit Boards
SMT = Surface Mount Technology for Single or Multi-Layer PCBs

ICs = Integrated Circuits are used for all below to go on PCBs

CPU – Central Processing Unit – wires through the PCB to everything below
RAM – Random Access Memory
SSD – Solid State Drives
HD – Hard Disk
IO – Input Output Devices

• RJ45 – Ethernet Port
• RS232/422/485 – Serial Port
• USB Type 2 or Type 3 Port
• PCIe – daughter boards to PCBs for WiFi, Cellular, etc.
• VGA or DVI Video Ports
• Touchscreen and multi-touch circuitry
• Microphone Input Ports
• Discrete Inputs or Outputs or Relay Outputs
• A/D Analog to Digital – Analog Input or D/A Digital to Analog or Analog Output Ports

Power – Terminal Block – and related circuitry including Capacitors

Wafers – How to make

• Silicon seed is grown in a long tube called a crucible
• Add dopants – Boron, Arsenic, Antimony, & Phosphorous
• Heat Crucible to 2552 deg F in high purity Argon Gas
• Finish monocrystalline ingot is then machined
• Use diamond saw to slice to a certain thickness
• Silicon Wafer Edges are Grinned, Diced, Lapped, Etched, Cleaned, & Polished

Major Fabs – SMIC, Micron, Intel, Apple, Analog Devices, Tower Jazz, Samsung, Texas Instruments,
TSMC, UMC, ST Microelectronics

Major Tools – Teradyne, Advantest, Applied Materials, LAM Research, KLA, ASML
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Gas Delivery Equipment – Separated Ducts and Piping for Air and Liquid
Wet Benches – ICs get dipped into chemical tanks
Wafer Boats – transport Wafers in process to other tools
Regenerative Oxidizers – Cleans Effluent Air
Scrubbers – Cleans Effluent Liquids