# Particles on Chips

| Here you can see a collection of SEM pictures which not only illustrate graphically the "particle" problem in making chips, but also have a certain esthetical appeal
|  | Click on the link for an enlarged view.
|  | Red blood cells on a 1 Mbit memory (large size) | Hair (from a female) on a 256 kbit memory chip. Just one of the little flakes of the hair would be enough to cover one memory cell. (large size) | Hair on a 4Mbit memory chip. - just to show how structure sizes decrease. (large size) | Here a metal particle, probably a tiny drop of Al that was burnt of by a an electrical discharge in a sputtering machine and hit the Si as a solidified droplet . It was coated with Al which was subsequently structured by etching. Four conducting lines are now short circuited. (large size) | Mother nature is still ahead when it comes to small structures. Here we see spiderwebs on a 256 k DRAM. A typical strand of spider silk consists of several individual strings with diameters around 0.2 µm. (large size) | Here is a particle of unknown nature. Whatever it is, it will kill a chip. (large size)

With frame

5.3.1 Cleanrooms, Particles and Contamination

Particles on Chips

Particles on Chips

Particles on Chips

Particles on Chips

Particles on Chips

Particles on Chips

© H. Föll (Electronic Materials - Script)