Seeker | Why the World's Microchip Crisis Will Last Longer Than You Think @Seeker | Uploaded January 2022 | Updated October 2024, 1 week ago.
Short Summary: Microchips are in most of today's technology, from an electric toothbrush to an SUV. But the supply of microchips has yet to catch up with its growing demand. Unfortunately, it's not so easy to just increase production.
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It’s pretty hard to imagine a world without microchips. They’re not just in tech like your phone and computer, but in pretty much every electronic you’ll encounter today: refrigerators, washing machines, strings of LED lights, electric toothbrushes, cars, and so much more. They used to be so easy to get they cost only about a dollar each, but right now they’re going for as much as 150 bucks a pop because there’s a huge shortage, which isn’t entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why are these microchips so useful, and so in-demand? Well, they’re Moore’s Law made real—tens of billions of transistors packed into a space about as big as your pinky fingernail. A transistor is essentially a tiny electrical switch that lets electrons flow when open or stops them when closed. These transistors are layered over and around one another on a wafer made of silicon to create a network that functions together as a circuit. The pattern of electrons flowing through these gates, plus sensors and other stuff, allow you to communicate with the device. But these chips are getting smaller and smaller, packed with more and more processing power.
When we’re talking about ten of billions of transistors in the space of a few nanometers, the manufacturing becomes HUGELY complicated and time-consuming. We’re talking cleanrooms with air 10,000 times more filtered than normal room air etching the transistors with super precise lasers A facility capable of producing chips like this costs tens of billions of dollars to make, so…they’re just a little tough to get up and running. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of those invaluable chip factories had to close, along with the rest of the world.
#seeker #science #elements #microchips #tech
Read More:
The Chip Shortage Keeps Getting Worse. Why Can’t We Just Make More?
bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-chip-production-why-hard-to-make-semiconductors
Before you put silicon into chipmaking machines, you need a clean room. A very clean room. Individual transistors are many times smaller than a virus. Just one speck of dust can cause havoc and millions of dollars of wasted effort. To mitigate this risk, chipmakers house their machines in rooms that essentially have no dust.
No quick fix for chip shortage
axios.com/no-quick-fix-chip-shortage-8cc09d53-9d6d-4774-922c-d5aaeb4d0646.html
Chipmakers, spurred on by the Biden administration and a bipartisan push on Capitol Hill, have announced nearly $80 billion in investments in U.S. manufacturing since the start of 2021, according to the White House.
The humble mineral that transformed the world
bbc.com/future/bespoke/made-on-earth/how-the-chip-changed-everything
Semiconductor devices called transistors are the tiny electronic switches that run computations inside our computers. Scientists in the US built the first silicon transistor in 1947. Before that, the mechanics of computing had been performed by vacuum tubes, which were slow and bulky. Silicon changed everything.
____________________
Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science that's happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond.
Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe.
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Short Summary: Microchips are in most of today's technology, from an electric toothbrush to an SUV. But the supply of microchips has yet to catch up with its growing demand. Unfortunately, it's not so easy to just increase production.
» Subscribe to Seeker! bit.ly/subscribeseeker
» Watch more Elements! bit.ly/ElementsPlaylist
» Visit our shop at shop.seeker.com
» Sign Up for Seeker's Newsletter! seeker.com/newsletters
It’s pretty hard to imagine a world without microchips. They’re not just in tech like your phone and computer, but in pretty much every electronic you’ll encounter today: refrigerators, washing machines, strings of LED lights, electric toothbrushes, cars, and so much more. They used to be so easy to get they cost only about a dollar each, but right now they’re going for as much as 150 bucks a pop because there’s a huge shortage, which isn’t entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why are these microchips so useful, and so in-demand? Well, they’re Moore’s Law made real—tens of billions of transistors packed into a space about as big as your pinky fingernail. A transistor is essentially a tiny electrical switch that lets electrons flow when open or stops them when closed. These transistors are layered over and around one another on a wafer made of silicon to create a network that functions together as a circuit. The pattern of electrons flowing through these gates, plus sensors and other stuff, allow you to communicate with the device. But these chips are getting smaller and smaller, packed with more and more processing power.
When we’re talking about ten of billions of transistors in the space of a few nanometers, the manufacturing becomes HUGELY complicated and time-consuming. We’re talking cleanrooms with air 10,000 times more filtered than normal room air etching the transistors with super precise lasers A facility capable of producing chips like this costs tens of billions of dollars to make, so…they’re just a little tough to get up and running. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of those invaluable chip factories had to close, along with the rest of the world.
#seeker #science #elements #microchips #tech
Read More:
The Chip Shortage Keeps Getting Worse. Why Can’t We Just Make More?
bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-chip-production-why-hard-to-make-semiconductors
Before you put silicon into chipmaking machines, you need a clean room. A very clean room. Individual transistors are many times smaller than a virus. Just one speck of dust can cause havoc and millions of dollars of wasted effort. To mitigate this risk, chipmakers house their machines in rooms that essentially have no dust.
No quick fix for chip shortage
axios.com/no-quick-fix-chip-shortage-8cc09d53-9d6d-4774-922c-d5aaeb4d0646.html
Chipmakers, spurred on by the Biden administration and a bipartisan push on Capitol Hill, have announced nearly $80 billion in investments in U.S. manufacturing since the start of 2021, according to the White House.
The humble mineral that transformed the world
bbc.com/future/bespoke/made-on-earth/how-the-chip-changed-everything
Semiconductor devices called transistors are the tiny electronic switches that run computations inside our computers. Scientists in the US built the first silicon transistor in 1947. Before that, the mechanics of computing had been performed by vacuum tubes, which were slow and bulky. Silicon changed everything.
____________________
Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science that's happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond.
Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe.
Visit the Seeker website seeker.com/videos
Elements on Facebook facebook.com/SeekerElements
Subscribe now! youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=dnewschannel
Seeker on Twitter twitter.com/seeker
Seeker on Facebook facebook.com/SeekerMedia
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