Who used to use a 1 kg mobile phone, the Pyramid of Giza is contained in a small chip, understand semiconductor

New Delhi: It was 1956, when the Nobel Prizes for Physics were announced. At that time, three American scientists William Shockley, Walter Brattain and John Bardeen were awarded the Nobel Prize for the invention of the transistor, only then the world came to know how big a discovery this transistor was going to prove to be. John Bardeen once again received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1972 along with American scientists Leon A Cooper and John Robert Schneifer. These three gave the revolutionary theory of superconductivity, which is also called BCS theory and which is considered a revolutionary thing for the 21st century. William Shockley, Walter Brattain and John Bardeen had created the transistor in 1947 itself at Bell Lab. At that time it used to consume more power. Later an engineer named Mohammed Atalla suggested the use of silicon semiconductor, which was not accepted in the beginning, but in the end the world had to agree with him/her. Let us understand the story of semiconductors and everything about them.

Semiconductors are as special as gold and as trivial as lead

A semiconductor is special like gold or copper because it allows the smallest particles of matter, the electrons, to pass through it. But it is also trivial like lead because it restricts the flow of electrons. Think of it this way: electricity flows through a semiconductor, but not as fast as a full conductor like copper or gold. It is slightly more than a bad conductor like lead, rubber or dry wood, which imposes some restriction on the flow of electricity. The conductivity of a semiconductor increases with increasing temperature. That is, it sometimes acts as a conductor and sometimes as an insulator. Semiconductor hardware, usually made of silicon, germanium and gallium arsenide, either allows free flow of electricity or completely blocks it.

How does a semiconductor work, how does it become super

Semiconductors are called semiconductors in Hindi, which are known as integrated circuits (IC), transistors or microchips. These are made of pure elements such as silicon, germanium or compounds such as gallium arsenide. During the doping process of making semiconductors, small amounts of impurities are added to these pure elements, which causes major changes in its conductivity. Mohammed Atalla was an Egyptian scientist who suggested using silicon as a semiconductor.

One chip has as many transistors as the Great Pyramid of Giza

A single semiconductor chip contains as many transistors as all the stones in the Great Pyramid of Giza. Today there are more than 100 billion ICs in daily use around the world, which is equal to the number of stars in our corner of the galaxy. There is a competition between the US and China to control this semiconductor market.

Semiconductors are made from nano fabrication series

Every electronic device that plugs into a wall or uses a battery contains semiconductors. Diodes, chips, and transistors are all devices made from them. Semiconductor devices are made in a series of nanofabrication processes performed on the surface of substrates made from very pure single crystal silicon. These substrates are commonly known as wafers.

Extreme caution is required in this process of making semiconductors

The process of making a semiconductor is complex. In this, silicon element is first extracted from sand. After this, wafer fabrication takes place first. In which wafers are prepared from silicon. Then the pattern is transferred. After this, it is doped. Then the process of deposition, etching and packaging is adopted in it. This is indeed a modern miracle and an achievement of engineering. Extreme care has to be taken in this process.

These 3 components are the only things that give you the upper hand in chip making

There are three important components in making a silicon chip. First- raw material i.e. hardware, design and fabrication. In the world of semiconductors, design is such a component due to which a country can get ahead. If India is able to use this capability, then no country in the world can leave it behind. Actually, India has the world’s largest silicon reserves.

How important are semiconductors in today’s world

Semiconductors are all around us today. They control the computers and phones that we use in business or administration. The phones, mobiles, laptops and computers that we use to control cars and planes are based on semiconductors. Even MRI machines that read ECG or brain, machines that diagnose and treat diseases and defense technology are full of semiconductors. The electronic gadgets that we use in our homes today like TV, music system, video games, watching web series, all this pleasure is also provided to us by a small chip i.e. a semiconductor.

1 kg mobile gets discharged in just 30 minutes of talking

Semiconductor technology not only makes these devices possible, but it also makes them more compact, cheaper and more powerful. In 1984, a mobile phone weighed about 1 kg, equivalent to a brick. Its price was about Rs 3.5 lakh then. The special thing is that a mobile of this weight would get discharged in just 30 minutes of talking. Thanks to semiconductors, today the average weight of any mobile in the world is 150 to 170 grams.

What are fabless or foundries firms

Semiconductor companies generally focus on two main stages of semiconductor production: design and manufacturing. Companies that focus only on design are called fabless firms. Companies that only manufacture are called foundries. Semiconductor firms that do both are called integrated device manufacturers (IDM).

Semiconductor market in India will cross $100 billion

According to Fortune Business Insights, the worldwide semiconductor market is expected to reach $681.05 billion by the end of 2024. This market will grow rapidly to $2062.59 billion by 2032. The most important in this market are memory devices, logic devices and analog IC chips. In India, its market is estimated to grow from $35 billion to $63 billion by 2026. It is believed that by 2032 it is expected to reach $100.2 billion.

Use of semiconductors in India’s Mars Orbiter Mission

Karl Ferdinand Brown created the first semiconductor device i.e. crystal detector in 1874. Semiconductors were discovered in the 19th century itself. The transistor was invented in the 1940s. Japan’s first transistor radio came in 1955. In 1959, Kilby of Texas Instruments and Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor in the US invented the bipolar integrated circuit (IC).
In 1931, two research papers were published under the name ‘Theory of Electronic Semi-Conductors’. Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) was established under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India. The semiconductor made by it was used in the Mars Orbiter Mission.

The country’s largest semiconductor park will be built in the Yamuna Authority area

A plan has been made to develop the country’s largest semiconductor park in the Yamuna Authority area. Land has also been arranged for this. Three companies have so far proposed to set up their units in the semiconductor park. By participating in the program, PM Modi took forward the campaign to make UP a hub of semiconductor manufacturing. On this occasion, he/she also mentioned the policy set by the central government in this direction. The PM said that they should read about the Digital India Mission. 836 exhibitors and more than 50 thousand visitors from 26 countries are participating in Semicon India 2024.