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An integrated circuit manufacturer produces small solid-state electronic components made of silicon-based chips used in various electronic devices. The manufacturing process involves creating silicon wafers, adding layers of conductive and non-conductive materials, and adding electrical connections to individual circuits. Clean rooms with high air filtration are used to prevent contamination.
An integrated circuit manufacturer produces semiconductor electronic circuits, which are small solid-state electronic components used in cell phones, televisions, and many other electronic devices. Solid-state devices have no moving parts and are made of silicon-based chips that provide computing power and electrical processing. Semiconductors replaced vacuum tubes and early mechanical switches for computers in the mid-20th century, allowing devices to become very small, yet pack large computing power.
Manufacturing integrated circuits requires several carefully controlled manufacturing steps and conditions to prevent contamination. The IC manufacturer builds clean rooms that use very high levels of air filtration to remove dust and other contaminants that can ruin a circuit board. Employees wear linings that prevent dust, skin or hair from entering the process area and will remove and replace these linings if they need to leave and re-enter the production area.
The first step in the production of integrated circuits is the creation of silicon wafers used as the basis of the circuit. An integrated circuit manufacturer or outside contractor purifies silicon from natural sands, removing any impurities to create a pure silicon cylinder-shaped crystal. The cylinder is then cut into thin wafers, which can be several inches or centimeters in diameter. These wafers are chemically cleaned, then one side is polished to a mirror finish which will be the base of the integrated circuit.
The polished wafers are then exposed to pure oxygen in a process that creates a very thin layer of silicon dioxide. The oxygen reacts with the pure silicon on the wafer, which consumes a small amount of silicon on the wafer surface. The resulting silicon dioxide is bonded at a molecular level to the underlying pure silicon and will not be removed later except by chemical processing.
The next steps used by an integrated circuit manufacturer are a repeated process of masking, exposure to light, etching and cleaning. An integrated circuit is an electronic circuit formed by thin layers of electrically conductive material separated by layers of non-conductors. Masking places a pattern or design of the first circuit layer on the silicon wafer.
First, a material called a photoresist is placed on the surface of the wafer, with the mask on top. The photoresist is exposed to light, which causes a chemical polymerization reaction of any exposed material. When the mask is removed, the uncured photoresist can be removed in a process called etching.
An integrated circuit maker repeats these steps, adding layers of conductor or nonconductor onto the wafer to build electronic circuits. Many small integrated circuits are built on a wafer at once and are cut apart in successive stages once the circuits are completed. The final steps are adding electrical connections to individual circuits so they can be placed on circuit boards used in computers and other electronic devices.
