How are Microchips Made? 🖥️🛠️ CPU Manufacturing Process Steps

Integrated Circuits, CPUs, GPUs, Systems on a Chip, Microcontroller Chips, and all the other different types of microchips are the brains of all the devices and technology that we use on a daily basis. But have you ever wondered how these microchips are made? Well, in this video, we're going to take a tour of a microchip fabrication plant or fab and walk you through the dozens of steps used to make a microchip. Specifically, we focus on how CPUs are made. CPU, GPU, and Smartphone Microchip manufacturing is a multi-trillion dollar industry, and each factory costs in the tens of billions of dollars. This is an overview of all the processes used to make a microchip, as well as an overview of a microchip factory. We're planning more videos on microchip manufacturing, such as a 3D animated factory tour.

This is the MOST complicated video we've made by FAR!! 4 different animators have been working on this video non-stop for the past 5 months, for a total of 1300 hours of research, modeling, script writing, animating, editing, animating again, rendering, and then more editing. Support us on Patreon is you want more videos like this one.

Table of Contents:
00:00 - How are Transistors Manufactured?
02:06 - The nanoscopic processes vs the microchip fab
02:34 - What's inside a CPU?
04:31 - What are FinFet Transistors
05:06 - Imagine Baking a Cake
05:44 - Simplified Steps for Microchip Manufacturing
07:51 - 3D Animated Semiconductor Fabrication Plant Tour
09:54 - Categories of Fabrication Tools
10:26 - Photolithography and Mask Layers
11:52 - EUV Photolithography
13:39 - Deposition Tools
15:02 - Etching Tools
16:02 - Ion Implantation
17:03 - Wafer Cleaning Tools
17:29 - Metrology Tools
18:16 - Detailed Steps for Microchip Fabrication
20:29 - Research and Hours Spent on this Video
22:18 - Silicon Wafer Manufacturing
23:19 - Wafer Testing
23:42 - Binning
24:59 - Explore Brilliant
27:20 - Thank you to Patreon Supporters

Key Branches from this video are: How do Computers Work? How do SoCs Work?

Animation: Mike Radjabov, Prakash Kakadiya, Adrei Dulay, Parvesh Khatri
Research, Script and Editing: Teddy Tablante
Twitter: @teddytablante
Modeling: Mike Radjabov, Prakash Kakadiya
Voice Over: Phil Lee
Sound Effects and Music Editor: Raúl Núñez, David Pinete
Supervising Sound Editor and Mixer: Luis Huesca

Erratum:

Internet References:

Wikipedia contributors. "FOUPs", "Integrated Circuits", "Photolithography", "Semiconductor Devices", "Semiconductor Device Fabrication", " Silicon". Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Visited May 13nd 2024

Internet References:

Textbooks:
Handbook of Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology By Robert Doering and Yoshio Nishi

Microchip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processing. Peter Van Zant

Semiconductor Microchips and Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Theory and Manufacturing by Yaguang Lian

Semiconductor Manufacturing Handbook. Second Edition By Hwaiyu Geng

#Microchip #Manufacturing #CPU

[BranchEducation]

Also, if you have any questions on the video or semiconductor fabrication, I'd be happy to answer them here.

Q: Why do we use older components e.g. i9-13900K, or the 3090GPU, or Iphone 13 Pro. A: We purchase broken (typically 1 generation old) components from EBay and tear them open to model them.

Q: Is binning done with all the chips?
A: Well GPUs are also binned, for example the 3090ti, 3080ti, 3090 and 3080 are all the same chip design called GA102. Whereas DRAM chips are not typically binned, but rather due to the redundancy of DRAM, there are typically extra array structures beyond the capacity of the chip. If cells in an array fail, then they are replaced with the redundant cells. When a chip runs out of redundancy it's considered defective and thrown out. Beyond that chips are binned based on quality and interface speed capability. Thank you @JoeLion55 for the correction.

Q: Marcel151 asked: The transistor layer, sits it more at the bottom or at the top of the CPU?
A: JoeLion55 answered: During construction on the wafer, the transistors are built first, directly on the surface of the silicon wafer. Then all of the metal interconnect layers are built on top. This all happens on the original wafer, with hundreds of dies on the wafer. So when in wafer form, the transistors are on the bottom, and the metal is on the top. However, during the packaging process, after the dies are cut apart from the wafer, the die is flipped over and mounted upside-down onto the package substrate. This is because the pins are on the bottom of the package (the pins that go into the socket on the motherboard). The pins on the package need to connect to the top metal layer on the die, which is what allows external signals to enter and exit the die. So, the die is flipped over so the top metal layer is now facing down, and is soldered to the package substrate. So technically, when you have a final "chip" that you install in a motherboard, when you're looking at the top of the chip where the heatspreader is, if you had X-ray vision and could see through the top of the chip, you would be looking at the backside of the die. The backside of the die is pure silicon. Then, if you keep looking through, you would find the transistor layers next. Then keep digging and you'd go through all of the metal layers, then finally you'd reach the interposed and package board.

Q: elektronikk-service asked: How do you align the different layers in a chip? They cannot be off by more than a few nm.
A: Joe Lion55 responds: they layers have alignment makes built in. Those are little cross or X-shaped structures that are non functional (they’re not part of any live circuit). But when the lithography machine is putting down a new layer, it will find the alignment marks from the previous layer and adjust the wafer position and/or the scanner optics until the alignment marks are in the right place.

Q: Someone asked about low die yield for small nanometer transistors, and was it just particles that resulted in low die yield?
A: For new technology nodes, which are the smallest nanometer names for the transistors- Typically low die yield is due to getting exact parameters for the process steps correct. For example, when FinFets were first being developed, a etching pillars of silicon was incredibly difficult and designing / engineering / and then fine tuning the etchers to perfectly etch billions of fins in perfect fin structures is wildly difficult and is what contributed to low die yield. This is just one of the processes but the example applies to practically all other processes for the a new node. For example, when you do ion implantation, you need to evenly implant about 5-10 atoms of boron / phos to a specific region of the fin. Well, what happens if there are just 2 dopant atoms? Or what about 50?

[pufflonn]

This channel deserves millions upon millions of views… the animations and graphics are better than anything I’ve seen ever.

[aarrodri]

I work at a semiconductor company, and have taught this lesson to many junior engineers, but never with this kind of amazing visual aids. This video is top notch! 👏👏👏👏👏 Bravo!

[chris_]

This is absolutely insane. Not just the quality of the video, but also the fact that people actually figured out how to create these chips.

[obscurity]

This may be the absolute peak of human ingenuity. Incredible.

[AkliSa]

My guy casually drops one of the most detailed YouTube videos on HOW PROCESSORS ARE MADE and act like we wouldn't notice. This channel is incredible

[onieyoh]

Best video I've ever seen explaining CPU production.

[Feldsvendark]

I am speechless about this immensely clear and yet overwhelming graphical representation and the yet understandable explanations. You are doing a fantastic job!!

[asitmohanty]

this was amazing. I have an electronics engineering degree, and worked at AMD (chip maker) with the supply ops and substrate teams - so I likely had more knowledge about semicon fabs than 99.999% of the population. I even have a 2005 wafer chip without the substrate and packaging which one guy from the production floor gave me. But my knowledge was maybe 5% of what this video shows.

This video blew my mind off. Wow!! Amazing work guys.

[AIdle]

As a retired technician, working with semiconductor fabrication line for 27 years. This the best and details explanation. Thank you.

[RealHorsen]

I think this is your best video yet. Well done everyone who worked on it

[erikboris]

I work at a small electronics manufacturing company at the PCBA and box build level. Some of the equipment we produce is involved in IC development.
I find this video really helpful in explaining the chip manufacturing process and the importance of our work to our operators. Will send a link to everyone in my team :)
Btw, this video was what finally made me sign up for Brilliant, after many years of nagging from youtubers.

[ukhonu-hb]

as someone who has spent over 30 years in the computer/tech industry, I learned something that no one has ever been able to explain to me! great

[CarlDouglas-ef]

I've worked in Semiconductor and semiconductor equipment manufacturing for over 40 years, ultimately supporting every area in and outside of the fab. I was fortunate enough to lead great teams in building a semiconductor factory. This video is very well done and educational for everyone wanting to know what a 'chip' is and how it is made. I highly recommend watching this video whether you work in the industry or not—it is very much worth your time. The team that made and produced this is awesome—thank you!

[thinktriple]

The people behind these process are so intelligent and diligent! Full respect!

[DizzyD_]

I’m a carpenter, I know next to nothing about computers. But I do enjoy learning about all building processes large and small. Thanks for making a great video,

[Shalashaska]

Whoever your animators are need a raise

[daleschroeder]

I have been working with and repairing computers for almost 30 years. I've done a lot of study and have kept up with most facets of the industry. I have never come across a video series that explains, so clearly, the details of the chip manufacturing process. I will make sure to have all my colleagues watch your wonderful presentations.

[xbeta]

Over the last 30-yrs working in this industry, this is the best video for anyone to watch and understand how chips were made! Absolutely perfect!

[KaneBear]

What you are doing is revolutionary. No one has ever made a video about microchip manufacturing this deep.