Questions tagged [die]
A die is a small block of semiconducting material on which a given functional integrated circuit is fabricated. Typically, integrated circuits are produced in large batches on a single wafer of electronic-grade silicon (EGS) or other semiconductor (such as GaAs) through processes such as photolithography. The wafer is cut (“diced”) into many pieces, each containing one copy of the circuit. Each of these pieces is called a die.
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How is wafer dicing economical (for small ICs)?
Is my understanding that, for a given technology, the cost of making a silicon wafer is pretty much fixed, in the sense that it will not change no matter how much you fill the space (how many ICs you ...
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Can an integrated circuit package contain more than one die?
I always see illustrations like the following one:
In the examples I saw always a single die from a wafer is inserted into an IC package. Is this always like this or can an IC include more than one ...
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Difference between the words 'die' and 'chip' [closed]
In some articles speaking about the IGBT power modules, we can see that the word 'die' has been used for calling the semiconductor component of IGBT device. However, other articles calls it 'chip'. ...
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Identification of bipolar transistors on die (pnp or npn?)
is it possible to tell from this photograph whether the transistors are npn or pnp? And if so, what is the line of reasoning? How to sort that out?
This photo I took is from a Sharp GP1FAV51RK0F ...
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Problems with doping semiconductor materials in 7nm technology
As you know, semiconductor technology is going to reach 7nm lithographic precision soon. Which means that the smallest segment length on a semiconductor die can be as short as 7nm. After making some ...
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Using decapped ICs in production
We were looking for a very specific type of ADC in a small package for one of our projects, and found something suitable in a TSSOP. We wanted to save more space, so looked into getting bare dies; the ...
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Are some CPUs implemented in standard cells and are others customized?
Explaining the question more, I see some die pictures which are implementing a Cortex-M0, with Bluetooth LE and so on, depending on the chip functionality, and are appearing like this (nRF51822):
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How do I attach my MEMS device to a PCB? I do not have access to a die bonding machine
I want to connect the MEMS device electrically to a PCB through Au wire bonds. I have designed the PCB for the MEMS device to mount on. I would like to know if there is any way I can align and bond my ...
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How much of a CPU die surface is taken by cache memory in modern microprocessors?
I am interested in how much of the surface of a modern or older CPU's are taken by cache memory ?
Are there any statistics regarding the size that cache memory takes in CPU dies of today ?
Are the ...
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If the integrated circuit die is very small what is the role of the extra circuit packaging?
I noticed that the actual integrated circuits of processors, GPUs, ROMs, specific integrated circuits and other ICs are very small but they usually come in a package that is much bigger. What is the ...
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How large can the working die size in a wide PDIP package be?
What is the maximum die size for a 0.6" wide Plastic DIP package?
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What are all the tiny features on this microchip?
I've been reading some very basic introductory material on computer hardware and it occurred to me that I would like to take a look at a microchip to see the physical implementation of a simple logic ...
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Can dual BJT packages be reliably used as current mirrors?
If I need current mirrors, can I just use dual NPN packages? I know that if multiple BJTs are manufactured on one die, they can pretty much be guaranteed to have the same spread.
Should I just stay ...
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How difficult is to reverse engineer a IC Die?
Can anyone tell me how difficult, time consuming and expensive is to reverse all layers of a die ? Say a die from a recent model SoC Processor IC found in smartphone devices such as the Qualcomm ...
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Can I cut an IC?
As far as I understand, the die of a DIP package is located at the center and the rest is just the lead frame. Given that I have unused pins, can I cut the top part of this microcontroller (ATmega16/...
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