Microprocessor Manufacturing

Luis E. Garcs P.
[email protected]

Abstract. - This document contains the fundamentals of C. SILOCONE INGOT

microprocessor design, including basic concepts, components,
packaging, architecture, circuit design and testing to learn the entire Processors are manufactured primarily from silicon, the second-most
process of design microchips common element on the planet (only the element oxygen is more
common). Silicon is the primary ingredient in beach sand; however, in
Index Terms Wafer, Etching that form it isn't pure enough to be used in chips.

The manner in which silicon is formed into chips is a lengthy process

that starts by growing pure silicon crystals via what is called the
I. INTRODUCTION Czochralski method (named after the inventor of the process). In this
A microprocessor is a computer processor which incorporates the method, electric arc furnaces transform the raw materials (primarily
functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on a quartz rock which is mined) into metallurgical-grade silicon. Then to
single integrated circuit (IC),[1] or at most a few integrated further weed out impurities the silicon is converted to a liquid,
circuits.[2] The microprocessor is a multipurpose, clock distilled, and then redeposited in the form of semiconductor-grade
driven, register based, programmable electronic device which rods, which are 99.999999 percent pure. These rods are then
accepts digital or binary data as input, processes it according to mechanically broken up into chunks and packed into quartz crucibles,
instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. which are loaded into the electric crystal pulling ovens. There the
Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential silicon chunks are melted at over 2,500 Fahrenheit. To prevent
digital logic. Microprocessors operate on numbers and symbols impurities, the ovens are normally mounted on very thick concrete
represented in the binary numeral system. cubes often on a suspension to prevent any vibration which would
damage the crystal as it forms.
The integration of a whole CPU onto a single chip or on a few chips
greatly reduced the cost of processing power. Integrated circuit
processors are produced in large numbers by highly automated
processes resulting in a low per unit cost. Single-chip processors
increase reliability as there are many fewer electrical connections to
fail. As microprocessor designs get faster, the cost of manufacturing a
chip (with smaller components built on a semiconductor chip the same
size) generally stays the same.
Fig1 sand to silicone ingot
Before microprocessors, small computers had been built using racks of
circuit boards with many medium- and small-scale integrated circuits.
Microprocessors combined this into one or a few large-scale ICs.
Continued increases in microprocessor capacity have since rendered D. WAFER
other forms of computers almost completely obsolete (see history of
computing hardware), with one or more microprocessors used in The ingot is cut with a very thin saw into individual silicon slices
everything from the smallest embedded systems and handheld (called wafers), each of which are then polished to a flawless mirror-
devices to the largest mainframes andsupercomputers. smooth surface.
II. DEVELOPMENT

A. SAND

Processors are manufactured primarily from silicon, the second-most

common element on the planet (only the element oxygen is more
common). Silicon is the primary ingredient in beach sand; however, in
that form it isn't pure enough to be used in chips.

B. DESIGN Fig2 Slicing a silicon ingot into wafers with a diamond saw.

The way a chip works is the result of how a chips transistors and gates
are designed and the ultimate use of the chip. Design specifications E. PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY
that include chip size, number of transistors, testing, and production The photolithographic process starts when an insulating layer
factors are used to create schematicssymbolic representations of the of silicon dioxide is grown on the wafer through a vapor
transistors and interconnections that control the flow of electricity deposition process. Then a coating of photoresist material is
though a chip.
applied and an image of that layer of the chip is projected
Designers then make stencil-like patterns, called masks, of each layer.
Designers use computer-aided design (CAD) workstations to perform
through a mask onto the now light-sensitive surface.
comprehensive simulations and tests of the chip functions. To design, Doping is the term used to describe chemical impurities added
test, and fine-tune a chip and make it ready for fabrication takes to silicon (which is naturally a non-conductor), creating a
hundreds of people. material with semiconductor properties. The projector uses a
specially created mask, which is essentially a negative of that
layer of the chip etched in chrome on a quartz plate
 I. PACKAGING

The physical packaging process involves placing the silicon die onto a
green substrate material, to which tiny gold leads are connected to the
chips pins or ball grid array, which show through the bottom side of
the package. On the top of that, a heat spreader is introduced. This
appears as the metal package on top of a chip. When finished, the CPU
looks like a traditional package end-consumers buy.

Fig.3 photolithograsaphy
III. CONCLUSIONS

F. WASHING, ETCHING The first silicon is called A-0 silicon, then A-1, A-2 and so
on. Once a major redesign is implemented, such as adding a
The soluble photo resist material is then completely dissolved by a larger cache, a new math ability or some other major thing,
chemical solvent. From there, an etching chemical is used to partially they move to B-0, then B-1, B-2 and so on.
dissolve (or etch) away a tiny quantity of the polished semiconductor
material (the substrate). Finally, the remainder of the photo resist The best chips are generally binned as higher-end
material is removed through a similar washing process, revealing the parts, being sold as not only the fastest parts with their
etched surface of the wafer. full caches enabled, but also the low-voltage and ultra
low-voltage models.

REFERENCES
GEEK. (s.f.). Obtenido de GEEK: http://www.geek.com/chips/from-
sand-to-hand-how-a-cpu-is-made-832492/
INTEL. (s.f.). Obtenido de INTEL:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/history/museum-
making-silicon.html
istpace. (s.f.). Obtenido de istpace:
http://www.istpace.org/Web_Final_Report/WP_6_microflu
idic_complementation/microsystem_design_and_deve/desi
gn_methodology/microfluidic_layer/index.html
Fig.4 etching chemical slideshare. (s.f.). Obtenido de slideshare:
http://es.slideshare.net/tirthamal2010/intel-proccessor-
manufacturing
slideshare. (s.f.). Obtenido de slideshare:
G. BUILDING UP LAYERS
http://www.slideshare.net/samfishers/manufacturing-of-
In order to create the tiny copper wires which ultimately convey
microprocessor
electricity to/from the chips various connectors, additional photo
Soper, S. M. (s.f.). informit. Obtenido de informit:
resists are added, exposed and washed. Next, a process called ion
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=130978&s
implantation is used to dope and protect locations where copper ions
eqNum=12
are deposited from a copper sulfate solution in a process called
electroplating.

H. TESTING Luis Garces born in Galapagos-Ecuador on

October 15, 1994. He completed his secondary
education at Instituto Superior Tecnolgico
Once all of the metal layers are built up, and the circuits (transistors) Docente Guayaquil of Ambato, where he
are all created, its time for testing. A device with lots of prongs sits obtained a Bachelor of Special Facilities and
down on top of the chip, attaching microscopic leads to the chips Maintenance Machines. He is currently
surface. Each lead completes an electrical connection within the chip, pursuing the seventh semester of their studies
simulating how it would operate in final form once packaged into end- of Electronic Engineering and
consumer products. Telecommunications at the National University
of Chimborazo.
A series of test signals are sent to the chip with whatever the results
are being read. This level of testing includes not only traditional
computational abilities, but also internal diagnostics along with voltaje
readings, cascade sequences (does data flow through as it should), etc.
And however the chip responds as a result of this testing, is whats
stored in a database assigned specifically for that die.