TSMC's long road from round to square silicon wafers

Crystal of Cultivated by Czochralski silicon.

Most of We will probably to have seen semiconductor pads as they trundle their path through A chip factory, And a few of We can to have request about Why they are round. This roundness East A obvious issue When A considered that THE chip dies themselves are rectangular, meaning that A significant Rising of THE dies engraved In THE pads END up be incomplete And Thus as waste, especially with (Dear) big dies. This East not A notion which has escaped THE attention of chip manufacturers as TSMC, with This particular maker apparently Currently to study A path has TO DO square substrates A reality.

According to has THE information provided has Nikkei Asia by people with direct awareness, Currently 510 mm X 515 mm substrates are be tested which would be replace THE current standard 12″ (300 mm) round platelets. For massive dies such as NVidia H200 (814 mm2), This means that approximately three times as a lot would be adjust by slice. As For When This technology will go In production East unknown, but there exist significant incentive In THE current walk has TO DO he work.

As For Why pads are round, This East because of how these silicon pads are product, using THE Czochralski method, appointed After Polish scientist [Jan Czochralski] WHO invented THE method In 1915. This method results In rod-shaped crystals which are SO cut into slices up In THE round pads We all know And love. On the way square East Thus not intrinsically impossible, but he will require update each stage of THE process And THE manufacturing double has work with This different shape.