IC: English full name integrated circuit, referred to as IC, refers to the semiconductor components containing integrated circuits.  

We see in daily life, used electronic devices, such as: mobile phones, computers, television and so on these electronic devices want to run the main power, rely on this small chip.  In short, chips are to electronic devices what engines are to cars.  In addition, it is widely used in industrial control, CNC video, broadcasting, measurement and control, wired and wireless communications, media, intelligent transportation, power, smart home, Internet of things, aerospace, unmanned vehicles, robots, medical and other technology front-end products.  

Today we're going to take a look at how chips the size of your fingernail are made.  How can you be so good?  

Despite their small size, the chips are packed with kilometers of wires and tens or even hundreds of millions of transistors.  Under a microscope, the countless details are breathtaking, like streets dotted with stars.  To make these nanoscale components "make one’s home somewhere", chips go through hundreds of nanoscale modifications before they can be put into use.  

How do you make chips?  

1. Build "ground-based" silicon wafers.  The chip's base is called a silicon wafer.  Whatever the circuit diagram is designed to be, it will eventually be superimposed on it.  We've all seen silicon wafers from the beginning - the familiar sand.  Carbon is added to the sand and converted to 99.9% pure silicon at high temperature. After melting, pencil shaped silicon crystals are pulled out of the sand. The silicon crystals are cut into wafers with a diamond knife and polished to form silicon wafers, the foundation of the chip is completed.  

2, lithography.  

The silicon wafer is coated with photoresist, Ultraviolet light shines the photoresist  through the photo mask. The photo mask is printed with a pre-designed circuit pattern. During the photo lithography, the photoresist exposed to ultraviolet light is dissolved, leaving a pattern consistent with that on the photo mask.  Chemicals dissolve the exposed parts of the wafer, leaving the photoresist to protect the parts that shouldn't be etched.  After etching, all the photoresist is removed to expose the grooves.  

3, Doping

Imparts the properties of silicon transistors by ion implantation.  Boron or phosphorus is injected into the silicon structure, which is then filled with copper to interconnect with other transistors .  Then you can put another layer of glue on top and make another layer of structure. Generally, a chip contains dozens of layers of structure, just like a densely interwoven highway.  

4. Package testing  

After the chips are made, they are cut from the wafer with a fine cutter, welded onto the substrate and sealed in a shell.  After testing, it can be packaged and sold.  (Wafer slice ---- heat sink, core, substrate packaging ---- test ---- packaging.) 

Why is it so hard to make chips? 

 Tens of millions of transistors must be placed on a chip the size of your fingernail.  And the smaller the transistor, the more transistors you can put on the chip, the better the performance.  So, the evolution of chips is the process of transistors getting smaller.  

Why so small?  

There are three main benefits: 

1, more energy saving - the smaller the transistor, the current through the transistor path is reduced, more energy saving and environmental protection. 

2, performance improvement ---- chip size remains the same, the smaller the transistor, the more transistors on the chip, the higher the performance.  

3, Lower cost ---- As the size of the same silicon chip becomes smaller and more chips can be made than before, the cost becomes smaller.