Uncovering the Silicon: Demystifying How Chips are Built and How They Work

[@Fopenplop]

incredibly slick presentation considering he gave it in real time

[@ahmetyusufsalim]

why is that exactly?

[@rogerducrin]

@@ahmetyusufsalim Because he has little hesitation and smooth, consistent data flow, complete with model demonstration and explanation.

[@abseiduk]

Old school presentation. Ironic given the subject.

[@erikshure360]

I would think that he gives this speech a lot.

[@cianmullins1254]

Nerds are fluent in nerd speak

[@puran_singh]

Never thought of such an approach to understand ICs. This is amazing! This model needs to be in every school and university :-)

[@nagualdesign]

^ Exactly what I was going to write. :-)

[@MsHojat]

It could be done quite effectively in a 3D program as well; namely VR for the easier interactivity of it.

[@feha92]

@@MsHojat Thats actually a good idea, such a simulation could also have visual elements to highlight stuff too, and I don't mean just components being highlighted from context in description, but also stuff like where there is current and how it travels when the user tries sending stuff into the inputs.

[@maccliff2115]

That acrylic demonstration with the labeled Over is without a doubt the best example of how a transistor works! THANK YOU SO MUCH !!! This video is so helpful you will never know how helpful this was. Great video.

[@sbinsdca]

I think they know and it was the reason it was created

[@kanelivingstone2091]

Exceptional video. Very dense with information yet clear. I can't believe it was only 5 minutes long. Most impressive, well done

[@danielplante6181]

Why couldn't I have these explanations/aids in college? Things would have been SO much easier. Great job man! Now do a 2-input NAND with a different metal overlay :)

[@dadygee]

Normal youtube comment would be "you dont want aids in college nerd... hehehe..." but I was thinking the same thing... i´ll see myselfe out.

[@benjaminramsey4695]

I love that people like this exist and are willing to prepare materials and lessons like this, SO GREAT!

[@BionicRusty]

Absolutely.

[@Nontech-y2f]

I mean this is one of the best videos out of all the videoa that i have seen on youtube

[@Omar_Tsai]

Massive respect for making all those presentation formats just to explain a simple circuit! 💯

[@wa9kzy326]

Dude, this video is so super-duper cool. I have been a electro-techie for over 50 years and wish I could have seen this video in the early 70s. Never too late, eh? Thanks a million !

[@paulgill7222]

EFFIN INCREDIBLE , Why don't they teach like this in schools. I'm almost 60 years old and can't thank him enough for making it so easy and concise. Thank you sir

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

I grew up behind the Iron Curtain and studied electronics. I'm not sure whether it is due to the place I grew up or whether my teacher was exceptionally good, but this is almost exactly how I learned how chips are made.

[@scottfranco1962]

This is very nice. I did a reverse engineer on a chip and we had the advantage that we had photographs of each layer of the chip. Its done by putting the chip in various acid baths and watching through a microscope to see if the top layer has been removed, then photograph it, then repeat. You end up with a series of transparencies of each layer, then you can lift off layers to see underneath. I think the difference now is this is all digitized and you do that on a screen. Its fun, and you learn a lot about ICs that way.

[@billjames1953]

Very nice job. I do failure analysis on IC's, so I decap them daily. Next time I have to explain what I do, I will reference this video.

[@kieranmcmahon1745]

This is literally the perfect explanation. When I'm at university, this detail of explanation is nowhere to be seen. In my data logging module, we are taught that "programming language is x, y or z, computers understand binary and microprocessors are simply ""and"" or ""or"" gates". Showing everyone this video is that crucial link between the theory and the practical. Well done, amazing video.

Changing between images, shapes and diagrams gave a incredible depth in the explanation. Amazing!

[@KentSnelson]

This is one of the easiest understand presentations I’ve seen on the construction of integrated circuits.

[@GMC997]

I've been always searching for this kind of explanation on how ICs actually look in reality, but I never achieved to find this until now. Thank you! I hope you'll explain more of those basic ICs and then move over to some more complicated ones.

[@I967]

Brilliant. Possibly the best demonstration of an IC ever. Seeing it as a big 3D model really helps to understand it spatially.

[@fawal.1997]

I have been looking for visualization like this for years, RESPECT!!!

[@edgeeffect]

I love the acrylic model... I'd like to see one of everybody's favourite the 555

[@maximosh]

The 555 probably has too many components to get a quick and simple grasp of basic chip construction. It's a very useful chip though.

[@RonLaws]

@@maximosh Actually no, it's surprisingly simple. there's maker kits you can get of it that are jumbo IC (shaped) PCBs with nothing but discrete components. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZLMpH54gcqmqac

[@stefano.a]

@@RonLaws it is not at the same magnify factor of the acrylic model of not gates. There are too many components

[@tb303wpf1]

What an amazing video!!! I think everyone on earth should be required to watch this and learn it. I've been working with electronics for about 15 years. I love it so much for many reasons. The most important of which, is that I always learn something new. No matter how much you think you know, something comes along to show you that you don't know as much as you thought you did. Lol. Superb demonstration sir!

[@courtneypitcher]

What was up with the arduino? I am very interested.

[@Nikarus2370]

I am extremely curious as well. All it looks like it was doing was blinking at alternating intervals.

[@alexa.davronov1537]

You will need SEM for that. Plus, you it wouldn't be easy to see actual transistors of the ARM cause it's covered by a lot of circuitry removal of which would be kinda tricky.

[@0lleman]

It seems that they have etched away the top portion of the microcontroller to show what the insides look like.

[@iamthetinkerman]

@@0lleman Good spot!

[@BenRyherd]

This is really neat! are the "Wire Bonds"/Pins glitter hot glue sticks with one end heated up and mashed down on the acrylic?

[@evil-mad-scientist]

Yes!

[@wi_zeus6798]

Why are there unused "components" on the silicon layer? Was this design used for multiple chips with different functions, selected by the metal layer on top?

[@michaelbuckers]

It's a possibility. But to me it looks like they tried to cram in a third gate but gave up on it and never bothered to manufacture a cleaned up stencil.

[@jwo7777777]

Sometimes features are built into chips simply for testing to make sure the process is in control, a "quality control only" feature. I am uncertain that this is the case with this chip.

[@feha92]

I also want to know what the unused components are for. Are they artifacts from the development process? Are they there for structural integrity? other? I would also have liked a better explanation on what the transistors in the chip was made of. Like the "gap", the word implies its air or vacuum, but the model had something solid there which implies the real one does too, and I am unsure how the base would be held in place away from touching the collector if the gap wasnt solid and the base has air on all sides.

[@mike.correa]

@@feha92 look up pnp and npn transistors on KZbin. It's basically 2 different types of silicon duping, so the different layers of materials are basically just n silicon and p silicon.

[@EdwinSteiner]

@@feha92 One possibility is that the same silicon was used to make chips with different functionality. If you have enough transistors, etc., in the silicon, you can implement different functions just by changing the metal layer(s) that wire(s) things up. Making new masks only for one or two metal layers is much cheaper than creating a complete stack of masks for new silicon. (This is even more true today now that many, many layers of masks are needed and the bottom (finer) masks are much more costly to make than the top ones for the metal layers. Today's complicated silicon devices typically contain lots of extra transistors, gates so that if you are lucky, bugs can be fixed by only changing metal wiring.)

[@mytinynotes2k953]

For me this is a super complex subject yet he explained it effortlessly with great clarity. Wow!

[@fzigunov]

The best explanation I've seen about this. OMG. Makes me want to print my own chips now!!

[@batchrocketproject4720]

Nice model and explanation. I'd love a follow up that explained the junctions and electron flow. Presumably the clear layer is not a dielectric but is part on an n-p junction; I can only visualise the function by mentally replacing the clear layer with doped material and even then can't quite map it to my rudimentary understandings of diode junctions in transistors.

[@billigerfusel]

Appreciate your efforts to help understand topics like this. There is a ton of work behind this short little presentation.

[@anandmr2001]

Thank you for such a great video, need more of these. There is tons of effort that has gone behind the scene and all of that was presented brilliantly!!

[@ZubairKhan-vs8fe]

Brilliant brilliant. Please do this for more circuits

[@sbinsdca]

Do enough and we could have a circuit party

[@SoumilSahu]

This is one of the best videos on youtube period I always wondered how we've managed to miniaturise such complex circuitry into tiny ICs. Thanks!

[@d.martins4471]

man ive never seen such an incredible explanation like this, and ive seen MANY, believe me. incredible job man!!!

[@rdear]

This was one of the coolest electronics videos I’ve seen in a while! Amazing presentation.

[@abc_generics]

Sir, you are a hero... such a clear presentation, I love it!

[@Rong2k]

But why is there an disconnected extra transistor at the top and a several resistors all over the place that also don't go anywhere? Maybe wiring can vary to compensate for defective silicon? Or are those just the test parts to probe with pogo pins to sanity-check the lithographic alignment?

[@MrWhateva10]

Fairchild could make many different ICs using the same silicon layer, by only changing the metallic layer on top. Wired differently those same components can make NAND gates and other devices.

[@batman-telephoneman5479]

Incredibly simplified. Brilliant man at explaining these subject matter. Superb.

[@martinsamuelsson2322]

Great work, I want one of those models

[@dadygee]

plexi+glue gun + saw +time = profit

[@dadygee]

*starts knitting in swedish*

[@jacobmojares2554]

What is the purpose of the transistor that is not connected to any pins?

[@tyttuut]

Great video! I've never really been able to understand how silicon dice were built, but this gave me a good idea of how it works.

[@henrypaul2248]

If it werent for the yt algorithm, I wouldnt have seen this gem. Very concise and crear!

[@tbethauser]

This is such an amazing project, literally the most helpful explanation I've ever come across.

[@1kreature]

So, have you found the exact same chip but with different metal layer that uses the unused elements yet? The leftover parts can be used by wiring up a different metal layer and you can create the uL900 (buffer) and a dual version as well. Also the uL915 (Dual 3-input NOR) In fact, it looks like a lot of the RTL series from Fairchild could have been realized by the same chip with different metallic layers, keeping a lot of the process the same.

[@jackdaniels8898]

Thanks! I was wondering why there seem to be resistors sitting there not connected to anything. Thank you so much for the explanation. It makes such great sense that you could make, I wouldn’t call it a universal chip, but you could certainly make a chip that could be turned into a couple of different final chips based upon the metal layer.

[@sbinsdca]

What he said 🤯

[@s_daivadnya]

I hope one day real school or college education be made just this simple to understand. Teaching is nonetheless an art.

[@soxnation1000]

This is an amazing video. It shows concretely how transistors physically work to form the logic gates that are used for calculations.

[@polloloci21]

This is awesome. I was wondering how these things functioned. It’s incredible how small these are

[@mofasa2]

This was so well presented that I could actually pick everything up on the first view!

[@saccadecom]

Why are there unused components on the die? Were the same non-metal masks used to make different gates?

[@danielplante6181]

I was wondering the same thing. My guess is yes. A 2-input NAND gate for instance. Just wire it up differently (the top metalization layer).

[@RCP-1136]

@@danielplante6181 thats it. its cheaper to change only the top layer than make a whole new lithography screen for minor changes in the silicon layers. also the complecity and cost of the silicon layer does mostly depend on how many different processing steps you make, not how the structures look like (this is also true for size, if you make stuff smaller it is not more expensive, given your eqiupement can do it to spec).

[@ahmedamrfarid]

You are awesome After twenty years, I finally understood how it actually works!!!

[@ecospider5]

This was frickin amazing. I’m going to watch this over and over until I can do and understand the presentation myself.

[@Dem0Dule]

This 3d plastic model is a next level breakdown.

[@bechelliz]

Impressive. Gold medal of YT education for you sir.

[@gunsrtheanswer]

I still don't know what Im looking at. How does that do anything?

[@damotoneko1500]

I've seen people pick apart things like Ds'es in order to add new components and it honestly makes me confused and intrigued on how chips work. Maybe one day i can truly grasp it but you made a neat explaination.

[@bafti123]

Good explaination and great models. The story leaves me with two burning questions though. You count six transistors but only four are used in the example schematic. What are the other two for? One of them seems to have the gate disconnected and should therefore not do anything. The other one that is not in the schematic has it's gate and emitter connected and should therefore always be off. And the second question is why they didn't make the die symmetrical if there are two identical circuits on there?

[@Mechotronic]

It's probably wired a few different ways and sold as different chips for other functions. Sometimes you have enough free die space and it's basically free to spin ither things into a single wafer

[@danielplante6181]

Best guesses: There are spares because the layout can be used for different devices by wiring it differently on the last (or 2nd last) manufacturing step (ie, top metal layer). 1st extra transistor does nothing. 2nd extra is either wired as a diode with the cathode connected to the substrate (protection?), or the ground rail actually does touch the collector - it's hard to tell. Of the 6 unused resistors, 5 are unconnected, but one seems to connect the supply rail to the substrate (bias?).

[@theunmotivatedprocrastinat8941]

This literally hurt my brain. Well done. I have to re watch this a few times.

[@Nightowl_IT]

What are the unused resistors for?

[@SojournerDidimus]

So what's with the unused 5th and 6th transistor? Are they to reconfigure the chip by only changing the metal layer? Also, why did they make a "viaduct" in the second collector pair? Wouldn't it have been better to route the emitter pair and the bottom right transistor and avoid this viaduct?

[@theprogrammer32]

This video bridges that gap that nobody bothers teaching because "you dont have to know how its made, just hurry up and slap it together". And it does it on a beginner level without needing to learn how to make PCBs. Mans got a good teaching career ahead of him, if not now then definitely when he retires

[@colekeircom]

Excellent and really informative video. Much respect and appreciation from someone who was a young electronics hobbyist when this chip was released. Thank you Windell and to all who were involved. Regards Kieron.

[@JinKee]

interesting - there's a bunch of spare resistors and transistors in the sillicon that are not connected to the metal layer. can you wire up this die differently to make different devices?

[@o.429]

Amazing. I wouldn't expect an easier to understand explaination. Thank you.

[@fetajonathan2247]

Great video. Thumbs up for the simple explanation

[@alexionescu4017]

Amazing presentation of a integrated circuit.

[@anteconfig5391]

omg. I knew how to make transistors but I never really understood how to utilize their structure. I now have a full understanding of how it's constructed and I can now make any circuit *from scratch.* It's not as complicated as people make it out to be. Sure it can get a little involved but a 10 year old can grasp these basics.

[@hichamabh6280]

Finally, I have a clear image that doesn't confuse me.

[@hammerhead6537]

Words cannot describe how educational this video is. Thank you. Semper Fi, USMC.

[@saotome77]

You should learn more words. Some are quite useful - But I agree, it's exceptionally educational.

[@AS-wi6hr]

This has immense educational value! 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@hariharan-yi8tf]

Thanks for putting this much effort to educate unknowns , I gained something from this ,tanx a lot.

[@renatooliveira0266]

Congratulations for your work! The best approach to logic electronics I ever saw!

[@danielraymadden]

Good presentation....building large scale models are great teaching aid.... they should operate and compute bits as well....

[@aaronr.9644]

really cool. so in the end that 1st transistor that was pointed out is not really being used for anything and it looks like there is another transistor there (where the ground connections meet) that is not being used as well. maybe they used this same silicon set up to build different parts simply by wiring things differently?

[@danielplante6181]

That's my guess.

[@fugamantew]

This is SO awesome! Please let's have this be an integral tool of every EE entry logic circuits laboratory course in academia

[@kjamison5951]

This is what makes electronics interesting! Not dry curriculum notes delivered in a monotone voice. I worked in a school for many years. Electronics was not the most favorite topic. It was pages and pages of diagrams and symbols and trying to make sense. I was asked to demonstrate a simple chaser circuit. I prepared a 10-page handout with examples and things for the pupils to work with. But what fascinates then more were the physical models and test equipment I used to explain what was happening. They were enthralled.

[@AMTunLimited]

Why are there so many disused components? Was this design used for other chips with just the top layer changed or something?

[@N0stalgicLeaf]

That's exactly right. I believe there is something about producing these at mass scale, that the cost saved from reduced tooling/process outweighs the cost of lost or wasted unused components, at least from a perspective of "make and sell *VAST NUMBER* of this widget at N% profit".

[@CEngrAries]

Best Physical Representation! Thanks, Keep up the good work!

[@miore580]

Awesome model. Why is there a gap between the collector and the base layer?

[@Hunefsus]

Shouldnt there needs to be an resistor before the output to make it work as and NOR gate? On the schematic

[@wffff2]

I don't think I can thank you enough for explaining this so clearly, but I will try. God bless you, mate.

[@OnyebuchiHilary]

Have been searching for such video thanks bro

[@successthruknowledge]

Well these were a superb set of real world teaching models! 💯💯💯👍👍👍Can I buy these somewhere?

[@ribvicky]

This is just amazing really ❤❤ what a great demonstration 🙌🙌👏

[@cottsak]

This is so good! I really learned heaps just now.

[@alexa.davronov1537]

Incredible work. Thanks for sharing. Great respect to Windell Oskay.

[@bcal5962]

Incredible model. Wish I could buy this somewhere

[@SemlerPDX]

Excellent props! This would make a great kit for a classroom, been searching online stores for IC teaching tools, or even bare IC's for use in scopes... Great idea to use an older, more simple IC for this. Thanks!

[@ThankYouESM]

What's your opinion on Glass GPUs in which light itself are all the switches... therefore no moving parts except somewhat for the surrounding LCD inside?

[@x_ma_ryu_x]

Amazing presentation. This definitely helps me for my Masters's courses.

[@okuno54]

I thought for sure this was just a snippet of a real presentation. Nope, the guy's just that darn good!

[@mathiasfantoni2458]

What’s the red layering underneath the resistors? It’s not touching any of the collectors, but it seems to touch both ends of every resistor?

[@Palundrium]

Knew this was the Maker Faire before you said it... Would recognize those chain link fence booths anywhere haha.

[@skyboy98046]

So how do the transistors on the chip work? What happens when a voltage is applied to the base? I understand the basics but in plain english and simple terms, what is happening? Induction? Is there a magnetic field produced by the base which then makes a junction between the collector and emitter? Like a transformer or a battery or a capacitor? I love your model btw.

[@SofSchwald]

great approach, great explanation

[@GarrettPeters-i8q]

Wow, incredible guys. Thank you so much.

[@jefferson5884]

That's exactly what I wanted to understand. Deeply thank you! Awesome job!

[@erwinsmartsmith8082]

What's the best explanation why IC manufactured in Rectangular/Square shape, not in circle??

[@JohnDoe-u3b]

What etchant can be used to remove the metal frame? BTW what type of IC is this CMOS, NMOS,...?

[@Wrutschgeluck]

If I just had this in school... Awesome explained! Thanks.

[@ChrisAthanas]

This is so good, after 40 years of messing with electronics, this is now all clear.

[@VisualReszka]

Thank you for this amazing explanation.

[@JeroenSteen]

Where to find more videos like this, that are the most clear about chips?

[@carlosrenatoalvesdeoliveir7222]

I can understand everthing now, This is impressive explanation about ICs, thanks.