<pie_>
there seems to be a whole load of these 6 inchers on ebay
<Sync>
they are left overs
<pie_>
how do leftovers happen? >.>
<Sync>
wat?
<pie_>
like, given the whole extreme logistics thing with silicon manufacturing, i dont get how they have leftovers
<Sync>
because changeover takes longer than making a few more
<Sync>
so you might run 10000 wafers for one product, just that you have some wafers left over so you can package them when somebody wants them
<Sync>
and after a few years, they get thrown out
<Sync>
or sometimes, the process did not work and all are defective
<pie_>
ah i see
<pie_>
btw my first impression seems to be that the cost of this whole process is mainly the nonrecurring and R&D, actual manufacturing isnt too expensive?
<pie_>
i havent seen any manufacturing related numbers though
<Sync>
manufacturing is hugely expensive
<Sync>
but since you make a few chips per wafer, it is okay
<pie_>
"We have certain products that we ship over a million parts a day of." wut.
<pie_>
heh here we go
<pie_>
"Some other mind boggling numbers:
<pie_>
The actual waferfab , the building, power, consumables, air filtration , electricity , gases and chemicals including the personell and the depreciation of the equiment in it costs about 600 million $ a year. And you have not made a single chip. so even if you are loitering for a minute ... 365 days at roughly 1.6 million $ a day ... or 68000$ an hour. Just to run that thing idle..."
<pie_>
mommy.
<pie_>
this awesome stuff just numbs you wrt consumer tech
<Sync>
it is regular consumer stuff, after all
<pie_>
bleah
<pie_>
$$$ :(
<Sync>
of course the numbers are big
<Sync>
but look at what a regular pcb assembly line costs
<pie_>
what?
<pie_>
oh i think i get what youre saying, i wasnt sure for a sec
<pie_>
you mean like compare the investment to the results?
<Sync>
my point is, the numbers might look large, but you need to put them into the context
<pie_>
oh sure i get that
<pie_>
"Many reactions aredone using plasma. To mix the chemicals in the plasma very evenly you need to stir it... How do you stir a cloud of ionized very reactive gas ? With a magnetic field. Plasma reacts to magnetic field. So we have multiphase coils around the reactor chamber creating a spinning as wel as a lateral moving magnetic field. That makes a uniform mixture of the reacting agents giving a uniform process across the wafer."
<pie_>
TIL
<Sync>
when drawing silicon you also control oxygen contcentration throughout the ingot by applying magnetic fields