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A Greener Chip Manufacturing Process

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the heavy-metals dept.

gardenermike writes "A new chip manufacturing process has been developed which uses UV light instead of high temperatures to prepare the silicon. This could lead to cheaper chips and greener factories if it pans out. Apparently the main problem is defects in the material, which are currently 'ironed out' as a side-effect of the extreme temperatures used."

6 of 68 comments (clear)

  1. Just in time to be obsolete by erice · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Silicon dioxide is the all purpose dielectric in most current chips. It is slowly and painfully being replaced by "low K" materials between wires and "high K" materials under the gate electrodes. The transition to Low K/High K has been pushed out again and again but it is being used in some chips now. If the this new method of growing silicon dioxide is still in research, it seems doomed to reach production shortly after it is no longer needed.

  2. Solar power applications? by tacarat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Would this process also be useful for making silicon based solar cells? Or is it at a step of silicon processing that's too far towards chip specific manufacturing? If solar cells can be made more cheaply, I wonder what this could make the initial $/watt investment.

    --
    "Common sense will be the death of us all"
  3. Re:I don't care. by MustardMan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Uh... did you even bother to RTFSummary, let alone the article? This is about making the manufacturing process more environmentally friendly, not saving you a few cents on your electricity bill by making a chip that doesn't use much power.

    I won't even bother to address your "I'm not paying for it so I don't care" jackass attitude toward the environment.

  4. 90, 65, 45, 32 nm--where do these #s come from? by Pink+Tinkletini · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I posted this to an earlier discussion, where it seems to be eliciting no replies, so I'll ask again here. The Wikipedia entry states: "The successors to 45nm technology will be 32 nm, 22 nm, and then 16 nm technology; it is possible that these numbers are arbitrary, but it is also possible that they reflect fundamental physical limits of some sort." So which is it, arbitrary or fundamental physical limits?

    --
    And now, a PSA from David Lynch.
  5. Re:I don't care. by geekoid · · Score: 3, Interesting

    let see

    you compute probably uses around 1KWh every6 hours.(probably more like 4 hours)
    let's se you pay12cents a KWh
    thats 48 cents a day. about 15 bucks a month.
    figure half of that is the amount of time that you would be using the computer anyway.
    extra 7.5 bucks a month.

    If you use AC, then it costs you even more.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  6. In simple terms - glue for good nanotech material by dbIII · · Score: 2, Interesting
    It's the name for a fabrication technique which among many other things can be used to make multicyrstalline photovoltaic cells - it's really about coating materials with properties you want onto surfaces and doesn't have anything to do with the sun despite the name. The best links I can think of are www.solgel.com and www.isgs.org.

    The reason I mentioned this is because zone refining of silicon to ultimately make large diameter single crystal wafers is an expensive and highly energy intensive process and is only worth it because the next wafer may well be used for CPUs or other integrated circuits.