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A die, in the context of
From Sand to Silicon “Making of a Chip” Illustrations
(n.d.) (broken link) These wafers are then polished to a mirror finish before going through
File:2N2222.jpg, Single NPN
A die, in the context of integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
s, is a small block of semiconducting material on which a given functional circuit is fabricated. Typically, integrated circuits are produced in large batches on a single wafer of electronic-grade silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ...
(EGS) or other semiconductor (such as GaAs
Gallium arsenide (GaAs) is a III-V direct band gap semiconductor with a zinc blende crystal structure.
Gallium arsenide is used in the manufacture of devices such as microwave frequency integrated circuits, monolithic microwave integrat ...
) through processes such as photolithography
In integrated circuit manufacturing, photolithography or optical lithography is a general term used for techniques that use light to produce minutely patterned thin films of suitable materials over a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, to protec ...
. The wafer is cut ( diced) into many pieces, each containing one copy of the circuit. Each of these pieces is called a die.
There are three commonly used plural forms: ''dice'', ''dies'' and ''die''. To simplify handling and integration onto a printed circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a laminated sandwich str ...
, most dies are packaged
Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a ...
in various forms.
Manufacturing process
Most dies are composed of silicon and used for integrated circuits. The process begins with the production of monocrystalline silicon ingots. These ingots are then sliced into disks with a diameter of up to 300 mm.(n.d.) (broken link) These wafers are then polished to a mirror finish before going through
photolithography
In integrated circuit manufacturing, photolithography or optical lithography is a general term used for techniques that use light to produce minutely patterned thin films of suitable materials over a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, to protec ...
. In many steps the transistors are manufactured and connected with metal interconnect layers. These prepared wafers then go through wafer testing Wafer testing is a step performed during semiconductor device fabrication after BEOL process is finished. During this step, performed before a wafer is sent to die preparation, all individual integrated circuits that are present on the wafer are tes ...
to test their functionality. The wafers are then sliced and sorted to filter out the faulty dies. Functional dies are then packaged
Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a ...
and the completed integrated circuit is ready to be shipped.
Uses
A die can host many types of circuits. One common use case of an integrated circuit die is in the form of a Central Processing Unit (CPU). Through advances in modern technology, the size of thetransistor
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch ...
within the die has shrunk exponentially, following Moore's Law
Moore's law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years. Moore's law is an observation and projection of a historical trend. Rather than a law of physics, it is an empi ...
. Other uses for dies can range from LED lighting to power semiconductor devices.
Images
bipolar junction transistor
A bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is a type of transistor that uses both electrons and electron holes as charge carriers. In contrast, a unipolar transistor, such as a field-effect transistor, uses only one kind of charge carrier. A bipola ...
die.
File:RGB-SMD-LED.jpg, Close-up of an RGB light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
, showing the three individual dies.
File:MC14053B internal view.jpg, A small-scale integrated circuit die, with bond wire
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...
s attached.
File:Diopsis.jpg, A VLSI integrated-circuit die.
File:Pentiumpro moshen.jpg, Two dies bonded onto one chip carrier
In electronics, a chip carrier is one of several kinds of surface-mount technology packages for integrated circuits (commonly called "chips"). Connections are made on all four edges of a square package; compared to the internal cavity for moun ...
.
File:Burr-Brown_OPA103.jpg, A monolithic IC operational amplifier.
File:ICM7107.jpg, 3 1/2 Digit Single Chip A/D Converter.
File:SN7400_1965.jpg, SN7400 Quad NAND gate in flat pack package. 1965.
See also
*Die preparation
Die preparation is a step of semiconductor device fabrication during which a wafer is prepared for IC packaging and IC testing. The process of die preparation typically consists of two steps: wafer mounting and wafer dicing.
Wafer mounting
Wa ...
* Integrated circuit design
Integrated circuit design, or IC design, is a sub-field of electronics engineering, encompassing the particular logic and circuit design techniques required to design integrated circuits, or ICs. ICs consist of miniaturized electronic compon ...
* Wire bonding and ball bonding
References
External links
* – animation {{Authority control Integrated circuits