How are computer processors made? Thanks in advance!
In: Engineering
They are made by laying down layers of various chemicals in a pattern described initially by light and now by electrons. All the connecting ‘wires’ and transistors in the billions are laid out in this fashion. There are lots of other small parts in a chip too. Edit: the 1st type, photolithography is way more common than electron beam lithography.
A computer processor is an electronic circuit that is the heart of a computer. Depending on the level of complexity, different manufacturing techniques are used. The standard method of creating computer chips uses a technique called [photolithography](https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1737#:~:text=A%20substrate%20material%20is%20coated,up%20a%20series%20of%20layers), which is a method of using ultraviolet light to etch a pattern into a material. The website Interesting Engineering [details how processors are manufactured](https://interestingengineering.com/how-do-you-make-an-integrated-circuit), which is summarized here.
1. All processors start out as part of a [silicon wafer](https://waferpro.com/what-is-a-silicon-wafer/), a very thin disk made out of purified silicon.
2. Use computer software to design and fabricate a stencil of the circuit, called a [photomask](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Semiconductor_photomask.jpg/1200px-Semiconductor_photomask.jpg). The photomask is used in the production process to etch the circuit design into the wafer.
3. Coat the wafer with a chemical called [photoresist](https://semiengineering.com/knowledge_centers/manufacturing/lithography/photoresist/). Photoresist is a liquid that softens when exposed to ultraviolet light.
4. Place the photomask on the wafer and shine a high-power UV light at it. This softens the photoresist visible through the photomask.
5. Wash the wafer in a chemical bath to remove the soft photoresist and to etch the circuit design into the silicon wafer.
6. Next, fill the gaps in the wafer with a conductive metal, commonly copper. The metal is added by vaporizing it and then having it condense into the gaps on the wafer.
7. The process is now done for one layer of the board, the above steps can be repeated for more layers. You can create another layer on top of the existing layer by heating up the wafer to 750°F and using specific reactive gases.
8. Once all layers of the circuit are completed, diamond cutters are used to cut the wafer into individual chips. A machine connects the [chip to the pins](https://cdn.sparkfun.com/assets/7/a/6/9/c/51c0d009ce395feb33000000.jpg) (which are used to connect the chip to a larger circuit) with wires and then package it, which can be done many ways and is explained in [this article](https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/a-101-guide-to-the-integrated-circuit-packaging-process/) from Thomasnet.
The creation of a computer processor is very complicated, but without these intricate and specific steps, you probably wouldn’t be reading this message! Hopefully this complicated process was explained a well enough so that you understand how your computer was made.
* Ever watch someone spray paint a word onto something using stencils?
* Basically like that.
* It turns out you can create almost any kind of electrical element from the same material.
* Resistors, capacitors, wires, etc. can all be made by blasting silicon with differing amounts of chemical junk.
* Those elements can all be stacked up to build things like transistors.
* Those can be stacked to make things called logic gates.
* Those gates are used to build basic blocks like memory and circuits that can add and subtract.
* And literally everything the processor needs is built from those memory and adder/subtractor circuits.
* Anyway light is projected in a certain pattern onto the silicon and it causes the exposed parts to change.
* The changed part can be washed away and so anything that didn’t get blasted with light remains.
* This allows you to control where the junk chemicals get absorbed by the silicon.
* If you’re very clever you can use the process to make incredible complex patterns that make up all the circuits in your processor.
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