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VIKRAM3201: Space grade versus regular processors

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Chandrayaan 3 was a landmark moment for Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It showcased India's space prowess and demonstrated that space missions can be economical. In 2020, the mission was estimated around 75 million USD.  For comparison, Avengers Endgame spent around 200 million USD in just marketing . A moon mission cost lesser than a big budget superhero movie. As a result of this success, the spotlight has fallen on government laboratories. Keeping in line with the theme of this blog, we shall talk about semiconductor devices used in this mission; the one that has gained the most notoriety is the VIKRAM3201 32 bit processor used in the launch vehicle. Figure 1: VIKRAM3201 processor (Reference: SCL ) Figure 2: Chandrayaan 3 Lander (Reference: Scientific American ) This processor is a triumph of India's semiconductor capabilities. Designed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thumba, and fabricated in Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL), Mohali, it is a fully indigen...
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The Mount Everest of Capital Investment: Understanding the huge barrier of entry in the semiconductor fabrication industry

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The economy drives the market. Where there is demand, there will be someone supplying that demand. Industries exist to turn a profit due to that demand. The electronics industry is huge with so many competitors on every level, with so many products ranging from heavy appliances like air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, to small and sleek gadgets like smartphones, earbuds, smart watches and the like. All these electronic goods have a never ending demand, so much so that the industry is facing issues in meeting it. All of these appliances have one thing in common: they all run on semiconductors. "Well just make more semiconductor manufacturing plants", will be your first thought; if only it was that simple. The semiconductor industry manages to find itself in quite a unique position, the ecosystem surrounding it is a tremendous interdisciplinary and international achievement. The raw materials and equipment required for running one fabrication plant on a commercia...
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Lithography AKA Rock Drawing

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Here begins the beginner's guide to lithography. Yes, that is what the name means if you separate ‘litho’ and ‘graphy’. Doesn’t seem that scary now does it? The name is very literal to the process conducted. The rock in question is our silicon wafer and we create patterns on it for further processing. It is a very crucial process as it directly determines the transistor density which is directly proportional to the amount of data it can process at a time. Patterns are either printed or written on the wafer. Let us go through the process step by step. Figure 1: Process of lithography. First, we coat the wafer in a liquid state compound called photoresist. As the name suggests, this compound changes its properties when light is shined on it. The wafer is then spun around for a determined time and rotations per minute to ensure uniform coating. The same way we use our handheld utensil (I don’t know what you use) to evenly coat bread with butter or jam so that we get every flavored b...
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