The cleanrooms have nothing to do with the complexity of the chips 🤓 It's simply a matter of preventing any contamination of the finished chips.
ASML and its EUV lasers work in a high vacuum, so nothing can penetrate during the process
ASML and its EUV lasers work in a high vacuum, so nothing can penetrate during the process
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@Der_Dividenden_Monteur Yes and no. Contamination on the unfinished chips at the various levels can also lead to functional failures in the finished chip. Contamination can potentially cause a fatal defect in the chip at every stage of production.
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•@RealMichaelScott Absolutely right. Moreover, no process is perfect. DUTs at the edge of the wafer are processed differently than DUTs in the center... This results in differences for the function that must be eliminated by the engineers with built-in calibration functions or BISTs... The better the fab has the process under control, the less complexity is required for a high yield. High yield = more profit;)
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•@Der_Dividenden_Monteur and also with the ASML machines, particles on the wafer (or even on the back) that originate from pre-processes can lead to incorrect exposure and thus to non-functioning chips.
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•@RealMichaelScott incorrect exposure is always possible anyway, with or without particles, simply because of the way ASML machines that use euv work.
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•@Der_Dividenden_Monteur Yes, of course. Several errors are possible in each step. I was mainly concerned with the statement about the finished chips. It is possible to "kill" the chip with particles in every step 😅
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