India to join the global semiconductor race: A semiconductor overview
Chip manufacturing is arguably the most difficult technical exercise currently undertaken by humanity—correctly etching and connecting tens to hundreds of billions of transistors 50 times smaller than a virus—and it is becoming more difficult. There were 30 chip companies at the cutting edge 20 years ago; now there are only two, and it's unclear whether a new entrant can break in.
The Indian government places a high value on electronics hardware manufacturing, and it is one of the key pillars of the “Make in India" programs. As a result, semiconductor manufacturers have numerous opportunities to enter this new market as long as innovation can keep pace with rising consumer demand. Semiconductors are in high demand all over the world because no microelectronic device can function without them (also known as chips). The semiconductor industry is responsible for all modern-day digital devices as well as future innovations. AI, cloud computing, quantum computing, enhanced wireless networks, blockchain applications, bitcoin mining, 5G, IoT, self-driving vehicles, drones, and other emerging technologies are all driven by these discrete yet sophisticated elements.
Why should India place a premium on semiconductor manufacturing?
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It's easy to see why India's policymakers thought this was a good idea. Cutting-edge chips are essential in the defense and high-tech industries, and developing a local industry would connect India to a large and expanding global chip market. The chip shortage has highlighted the significance of these small components in global manufacturing. And India's success in domestically manufacturing mobile electronics—the value of mobile phone production in India has increased more than eightfold in the last eight years—provides some cause for optimism.
Semiconductor market
The global semiconductor market is projected to grow from $573.44 billion in 2022 to $ 1,380.79 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 12.2% in the forecast period, 2022-2029. As per the available data, the market size of this industry in India is $178 billion and is expected to grow to $300 billion by 2025.
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Business risks
Smaller, faster, and cheaper is the mantra of the semiconductor industry. The semiconductor industry is highly cyclical, with periodic ups and downs.
The current manufacturing of semiconductors
The top four global companies [2020 data] are [1] Intel [2] Samsung [3] TSMC and [4] SK Hynix
Top four Indian semiconductor manufacturing companies are [1] Saankhya Labs [2] ASM Technologies [3] ???????????Broadcom Inc and [4] Chiplogic Technologies
What Exactly Is a Semiconductor?
A semiconductor is a silicon-based material that conducts electricity more than an insulator, such as glass, but less than a pure conductor, such as copper or aluminium. Their conductivity and other properties can be changed by introducing impurities, a process known as doping, to meet the specific needs of the electronic component in which they reside.
Semiconductors, also known as semis or chips, are found in thousands of products such as computers, smartphones, appliances, gaming hardware, and medical equipment.
Semiconductor manufacturing challenges???????????????????????????????
A fab manufacturing unit requires billions of dollars to set up. Not only is the large initial investment a bottleneck, but the time required to even break even makes it an unappealing business proposition for many players. Only large corporations can enter this domain.
Water is used extensively in semiconductor manufacturing for a variety of purposes ranging from equipment cooling to wafer surface cleaning. In these stages, ultrapure water is required for surface cleaning, solvent processing, and chemical mechanical planarization. All fabs use a lot of UPW — device fabs use seven liters/cm2 of UPW per wafer out, according to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) (2011). This means that a typical 200 mm wafer fab with a monthly capacity of 20,000 wafers can consume up to 3,000 m3 of UPW per day. That is the equivalent of a 20,000-person community's daily water needs.
Converting raw water to ultrapure water is a significant and costly activity for all semiconductor fabs. Because of the high production costs and high-volume requirements, there are ongoing and significant efforts within the industry to reduce the use of UPW.
Aside from the constant water supply constraints, a consistent and stable electrical supply is one of the most important components of semiconductor manufacturing. Because the process is so delicate, even a brief outage or power spike can bring it to a halt, requiring hours or days to recover from.
Semiconductor Types
Semiconductors are classified into two types based on the elements that are mixed in with silicon, a process known as "doping." These "impurities" are introduced into crystalline silicon in order to change the properties of the finished semiconductor:
An n-type semiconductor contains one or more impurities based on pentavalent atoms like phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth
A p-type semiconductor has dopants with five electrons in its valence layer. Phosphorus is commonly used for this purpose, as well as arsenic, or antimony.
Semiconductors' applications
Semiconductors are broadly classified into four product categories:
Memory
Memory chips act as temporary data storage devices, transmitting data to and from the brains of computer devices.
Microprocessors
These are central processing units that contain the basic logic to perform tasks.
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Commodity Integrated Circuit
Sometimes called "standard chips", these are produced in huge batches for routine processing purposes.
Complex SOC
"System on a Chip" is essentially all about the creation of an integrated circuit chip with an entire system's capability on it.
Semiconductor manufacturing
Semiconductor devices are created through a series of nanofabrication processes performed on the surface of highly pure single crystal silicon substrates. These substrates are commonly referred to as wafers.
The process begins with a common material, such as sand, and ends with advanced circuitry composed of many transistors, such as a microprocessor capable of processing hundreds of millions of instructions per second. To accomplish this, the semiconductor industry works on separate steps such as silicon plant, water fabrication, test, and assembly to develop a perfect chip while constantly lowering the cost of a transistor or other basic electrical components.
Wafers that are commonly used include 300 mm wafers, which provide the advanced miniaturization required for cutting-edge devices, and 200 mm wafers, which are better suited to the mixed, small lot production required for Internet of Things devices (IoT). The manufacturing process consists of hundred high precision complex steps that are not worth going into detail about. The manufacturing process is broken down into the following key steps.
Cleaning
The silicon wafers that form the semiconductor's foundation are cleaned. Even minor contamination of a wafer will result in circuit defects. As a result, chemical agents are used to remove all contamination, from ultra-fine particles to minute amounts of organic or metallic residues generated during the manufacturing process, or unwanted natural oxide layers formed due to air exposure.
Deposition of Film
On the wafer, thin film layers of silicon oxide, aluminium, and other metals that will become circuit materials are formed. There are several methods for creating these thin films, including "sputtering," which involves bombarding a target material, such as aluminium or another metal, with ions, which knocks off atoms and molecules that are then deposited on the wafer surface.
Cleaning after Deposition
Brushes or nanospray with deionized water, or other physical cleaning methods, are used to remove minute particles adhering to the wafer after film deposition.
Resist Coating
The wafer surface is coated with resist photosensitive chemical.
Exposure
The wafer is exposed using short wavelength deep ultraviolet radiation projected through a mask on which the circuit pattern has been formed. Only the areas of the resist layer that are exposed to the light undergo a structural change, thereby transferring the pattern to the wafer.
Impurity Implantation [Doping]
Impurities such as phosphor or boron ions are implanted in wafers to give the silicon substrate semiconducting properties.
Activation
To activate the doped ions implanted in the wafer, heat processing is performed using flash lamps or laser radiation.
Assembly
The wafer is divided into individual chips (dicing), and the chips are wire-bonded to a metal frame called a lead frame. The wafer is then enclosed in epoxy resin material (packaging).
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