AnandTech's Intro To Semiconductor Tech

An anonymous reader writes: Computer hardware site AnandTech has posted a detailed introduction to semiconductor technology. It's deep enough to be insightful for understanding the chips that run your devices and the industry that built them, but also short enough that your eyes won't start bleeding in the process. The article starts by explaining why silicon is so important, and how a board is set up, structurally. Then it walks through transistor design and construction, and the underpinnings of CMOS logic. Finally, the article describes the manufacturing steps, including wafer creation, photolithography, and how metal is added/shaped at the end. They then go into the physics behind improving these components. It's a geeky and informative read.

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[Unknown Lamer]

Back at HOPE9, there was a really awesome presentation on semiconductor manufacturing [youtube.com]. It's worth the entire 90 minutes and IMHO was the best part of the conference. I've ended up showing the video of it to a few folks now, and it never becomes less awesome.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, this video really needs to be watched and understood especially by people with unrealistic expectations from 3D printing.

Look at what we are building NOW and tell me how you think we'll be doing this at home???

Insanity.

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[ArcadeMan]

But they did it in Star Trek: The Next Generation!

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[0123456]

This video of a nuclear reactor needs to be watched and understood by those who think their Sinclair ZX80 could really control a nuclear reactor. Look at the computing complexity of what we're using NOW, and tell me how you think we'll be doing this with a microprocessor???

Britney Spears guide to semicondoctor physics

[rjforster]

It may be old but this is pretty good.
http://britneyspears.ac/lasers... [britneyspears.ac]

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[Guy Harris]

And then there's Barbie explains finite state machines [lardcave.net], from the old Forum 2000.

Best Summary Ever...

[dnebin]

tl;dr

Wrong site...

[wbr1]

This site is only interested in deadlocked AGW arguments, political infighting, and tinfoil hattery. Please do not misunderstand, I am not complaining about that. These things have their place. However, real technical discussion is unappreciated here.

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[werepants]

Maybe so... this kind of article won't generate much commentary most likely, but it is stuff like this that keeps me at slashdot. It would be interesting to know what the article view numbers are. I can't imagine that people in massive flamewars in the comments section are a high-value ad target, so I question whether posting that stuff is really all that lucrative.

wow very good article

[crgrace]

I'm a professional in the business and I was really happy to see that they seem to have gotten everything right! I was prepared to roll my eyes when they showed a cross-section of a bipolar transistor (which they didn't) and their treatment of BEOL processing was outstanding.

Bravo!

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[tlhIngan]

I'm a professional in the business and I was really happy to see that they seem to have gotten everything right! I was prepared to roll my eyes when they showed a cross-section of a bipolar transistor (which they didn't) and their treatment of BEOL processing was outstanding.

Given it was AnandTech, it was expected to be of high quality and well-researched.

While AnandTech is primarily a PC oriented enthusiast website, Anand Lal Shimpi (when he was there) ensured that the content there would be extremely well

no love for power MOSFETs

[phaserbanks]

For all the detail in this article, it would be nice to see some mention of power transistors. Advances in power devices necessarily go hand in hand with advances in CMOS, but it's a field that's often overlooked. Maybe chapter two?

A Harder Read than Advertised

[mythosaz]

From the second paragraph, emphasis mine.

Silicon is incredibly important as a material in the industry because it’s a semiconductor. Of course, the name is self-explanatory, but there’s more to it. The key here is the band structure. Band structure refers to the “bands” of energy levels that form due to the sheer number of orbital states that can be occupied in molecules. Those that understand how electron orbitals work will point out that each energy level is discrete, but due to the sheer number of orbital configurations, a seemingly continuous distribution of energy can be seen.

Ah yes, completely self explanatory, and yes, we all remember our electron orbitals.

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[preaction]

This may be an excellent article, but it is very poorly written. If only there were people whose job it was to read things and then ... change... them so they were better... Like... a changer? Is that a thing?

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[preaction]

Every time I've heard someone say something was "self-explanatory" or "self-evident" or "obvious", it was always anything but...

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[gnupun]

But it is self-explanatory: semi means partial (compared to copper/other metals that fully conduct electricity and insulators don't conduct any), and conductor means well, conductor of electricity. Semiconductors can either be conductors or insulators depending on many factors.

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[mythosaz]

When someone writes "Of course, the name is self-explanatory" they're either wasting ink on paper (because it is self-explanatory), or they're smugly saying you're an idiot for not knowing why it's so goddamned obvious.

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[werepants]

I suppose it isn't really an "intro" then, but you always have to presume some level of knowledge in your audience - do they understand what processors are? Computers? Electrons? You can't cover everything.

Semiconductors are really where materials science meets electronics. Understanding whether something is a conductor or an insulator is 7th grade science - it does seem self-explanatory to me that a semiconductor is something that is "partially" conductive. As far as electron orbitals, that's where the