Fab plants are amazing to watch. The cleanroom technology, the big bets that manufacturers take, the technological advances that come with every new plant - all these make it a wonder of its own kind. I have visited a few fab plants around the world and every plant has a story of its own - conveying a perspective of the semiconductor industry. Like that of the pharma industry investing in new molecular formulation, the semicon industry makes lots of investments on every new fab plant. Scoble posted a great video tour of Intel’s 45nm fab and a breakdown of some of the interesting points. Transistors up to now were created using silicon dioxide. Hafnium-based Metal Gates are much harder to manufacture, which is why it took so long. Intel is the first company to do this process. This is a real breakthrough from Intel. Imagine a life without semiconductors and visualise the technological progress clocked centered on the semicon - my admiration for the industry keeps growing.
Category :Fab Plants
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