![]() ![]() These microscopic channels are then etched with chemicals and implanted with electrons to make them conduct electricity. Instead, the pathways for the current are created by using solvents to remove channels of material. Now think small, and ask yourself this: How are such tiny circuits put in such a small chip? Good question! No mechanical object or pen could lay down such incredibly microscopic wires. If you could enlarge the wafer to the size of a swimming pool, the surface would look like a miniature city. Over 300 manufacturing steps later, this silicon wafer holds hundreds of microprocessors. Fabrication begins with a very thin slice of silicon. Hundreds of these “skyscrapers” can be produced on a silicon wafer at a time.įrom start to finish, a microprocessor takes about two months to produce. Similarly, microprocessors are made of many layers with stairway-like circuits between them. A skyscraper has many floors and stairways that connect the floors. You may be surprised to learn that a single microprocessor is like a miniature skyscraper. Lesson 6: Building Skyscrapers on a WaferĮver hold a 20-story building in the palm of your hand? That’s what it’s like holding a dime-sized microprocessor with millions of transistors. (Want that in inches? It’s 0.00000255 of an inch.) The image, based on an original drawing by Shepard Fairey, is just wider than. That’s 10,000 times smaller!Ī microprocessor transistor then is 0.0000065 centimeters wide. President-elect Barack Obama, each made with approximately 150 million tiny carbon nanotubes, are photographed using an electron microscope by University of Michigan Mechanical Engineering Department in this image released to Reuters November 10, 2008. At one end of the ruler, you should also see a small CM label.) A micron is. ![]() (If not, look for them the next time you have a ruler. You’re probably familiar with centimeter marks on a ruler. What’s a micron? It’s a very small metric measurement. In comparison, a transistor is just 0.065 microns wide. How wide is a human hair? A human hair is approximately 80 to 100 microns in diameter. They’re more than 8,000 times thinner than a human hair. Wires between transistors are even thinner. That’s because a human hair is about 2,000 times wider than a transistor on a microprocessor. ![]() It isn’t very thick, is it? Well, to a microprocessor manufacturer, that hair looks like a telephone pole. Lesson 3: The Best Things Come in Small Packages ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |