garrison_k. Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 <p><br />A behind the scenes vid on how Lexar Memory Cards are made<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvf29R7nXlM&feature=player_embedded<br /><br /></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthea50 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 <p>Fascinating! I have seen this type of stuff being made before - the question that always comes into my mind is why is the original starting plate circular? Does anyone know why? I mean if you're going to make a bunch of square or rectangular chips, why start with a circle? Surely that is just a tad wasteful?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard_m Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 <p>the current & historical manufacturing process of the raw silicon wafers mostly demands round wafers since that is how silicon is crystallized into a huge ingot and then purified via zone-melting. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek_kennedy Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 <p>Quite interesting. I like seeing videos of things being made. Sometimes Im quite surprised at the steps that are taken during the process.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
railphotog Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 <p>Amazing! To think the local Wal-Mart had (non Lexar) 2GB cards on sale over the holidays for $5.00 each!</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sknowles Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 <p>Also circular shapes are easier to manage in the initial wafer production process. Try to have robots fit or remove square or rectangular wafers into or from the various slots and machines. Circular wafers will always fit.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 >>> I have seen this type of stuff being made before - the question that always comes into my mind is why is the original starting plate circular? Does anyone know why? <P> >>> Also circular shapes are easier to manage in the initial wafer production process. Try to have robots fit or remove square or rectangular wafers into or from the various slots and machines.<P> The very very short story... Not because of handling issues, but because single crystal silicon wafers (what you are calling plates) are sliced off of what are called boules. Boules, are literally grown from from a seed crystal being pulled in a highly controlled manner in high-temperature crucibles. Silicon boules grow naturally in the form of cylindrical ingots in that growing process. Wafers are cut of the end of the ingots and then polished. The individual memory die, of which there are thousands on each sliced wafer, are simply cut. Wafers today used for high-volume parts are 300mm in diameter, about 12 inches. About 20 years ago they were 3 inches; followed by 6 inches and 8 inches. Sometime in the future production wafers will be 450mm, about 18" inches in diameter. That's huge! The larger the wafer, the more good die (not all are good, there are defects) you end up with. There is a nice <a href= "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czochralski_process">diagram here.</a> www.citysnaps.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrison_k. Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 <p>A bit of electricity and a crystal, it`s all fascinating and magical to me.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvy Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 <p>I have to say that I rather enjoyed this film! What clinical precision is involved by the machines and human operators. The humans seemed almost machinelike.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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