All computer chips are made from a rather unimpressive material; sand.
Silica sand is made of silicon dioxide, and the main base material silicon must be pure before it can be used to manufacture computer chips.
The silicon is purified and filtered multiple times, and then melted and formed into a block of silicon. The cylindrical block is then cut into disks of silicon, which are refined and polished to ensure the smoothest possible surface.
A layer of photoresist is spread over the disk of silicon, which forms a patterned coating on the surface. The disk is exposed to a UV light mask, and then the exposed photoresist becomes soluble and is washed off.
The silicon disk is then exposed to ions which alter its conductive properties, a process called doping. A pattern of a hard material is applied to the disk using photolithography. Unwanted silicon is removed, which creates thin silicon ridges on the disk.
An insulation layer is applied to the surface and holes are engraved into the surface. Copper ions are deposited onto the surface using a process called electroplating. The extra copper is polished off, so that the only copper remaining of the surface is the copper inside the engraved holes on the insulation layer.
The chips are now ready to be tested: the disk is sliced into dies and the ones that are functional are moved on to the final step in the fabrication process.
The dies are packaged witch a substrate and heat spreader, which conducts heat away from the silicon. These processors are then tested, and those that pass the tests are packaged as a retail product.
On Campus:
Hunt Basement: Ideate Students
CUC Basement: Robotics Club
Doherty C&D Level: School of Art