Silicon Crystal Growth.dv & Silicon Chip Manufacture

The above, silent video shows a monocrystal of silicon being drawn from a molten silicon bath by one, pencil-thin silicon crystal. There is no narration or explanation given. For that, might I suggest...



The show How Do They Do It seems to be a British take on the more American How It's Made series. Here they visit Texas to see how silicon microchips are made. The above process shows up at 2:00 and shows the four-fold symmetry of the silicon crystal, a 200kg, 200mm across (that's like 440 pounds and not quite 8 inches across, for us Americans.)

From there it's to the silicon sausage slicing machine, buffing, and creating the teeny, weeny, tiny microchips from the 2/3 mm thick sheet.

From worthless pile of sand to a product that sells for $1000 per gram? Outstanding return on investment...