How semiconductor chips are made: Ashwini Vaishnaw explains journey from sand to chip; WATCH

From silica-rich sand to a finished chip inside a computer or mobile phone, semiconductor manufacturing involves a long chain of highly precise processes.

Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has explained that journey in a video message, breaking down how chips are designed, fabricated, packaged, and eventually used in everyday products.

"Semiconductor is foundational industry," Vaishnaw said, explaining why chips are central to almost every modern product.

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From Sand To Wafer

The IT minister, who is leading India's chip mission, said the process begins with silica-rich sand. The sand is used to make a silicon ingot, a cylindrical solid.

The ingot is then sliced into wafers. These are called bare wafers and form the base on which the chip's circuitry is fabricated.

The fabrication process requires extreme precision, Vaishnaw said. He compared it to writing on a fingernail.

"Imagine writing your name on your fingernail," he said. Writing the names of all your classmates on the same surface would be more complex, he explained. Writing the contents of all Class 10 textbooks on that fingernail would require a level of precision that humans cannot achieve manually.

"That is the level of precision which is required to be done while fabricating the chips," the minister said.

A fabricated wafer contains the circuits etched onto it. Multiple layers are built into the wafer, with Vaishnaw comparing the roughly 40 to 50 layers to a 40- or 50-storey building. The wafer itself is extremely thin, with its thickness comparable to the tip of a pen, he said.

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From Wafer To Chip

Individual chips are then extracted from the fabricated wafer.

They have to be packaged through a process known as ATMP, or assembly, testing, marking, and packaging. Once that process is complete, the individual semiconductor chips are ready to be used in products.

Vaishnaw described the full chain as running from "sand, silicon ingot, bare wafer, fabricated wafer, the chip" and then into different modules.

A memory module, for example, can eventually go inside a computer before becoming part of a finished product. "That's the whole value chain."

India’s Semiconductor Push

Vaishnaw said India had never had a semiconductor industry despite attempts dating back to the 1960s.

"Finally, we have been successful in getting the semiconductor industry established in our country," he said.

The government is now seeking to build the entire semiconductor value chain in India. Vaishnaw said this includes schemes covering mobile-phone manufacturing, IT hardware, components, and semiconductor chips.

The government is also trying to build an ecosystem around semiconductor manufacturing rather than focusing only on fabrication plants.

Under Semiconductor Mission 1.0, 12 plants have been approved. Three have already started manufacturing.

The minister showed two chips that he said had been commercially manufactured at Indian semiconductor plants. "That is something which is very satisfying, but that is not the end goal," he said. "This is just a beginning."

Building A Design Ecosystem

Vaishnaw said India has also begun developing a semiconductor design ecosystem, although it remains "very nascent" and much more work is needed. He showed a chip designed by one of the government's Design Linked Incentive, or DLI, partners.

The IT minister also highlighted chips designed and manufactured by students. The students were not limited to major cities. He cited students from Shivpur in Assam, Puducherry, Dhanbad, Rourkela, Durgapur, Jammu, Calcutta, and Surat.

Vaishnaw said the progress was possible because the government approached the semiconductor mission as an ecosystem-building exercise. "We didn't say just set up a fab. No. We need to develop the entire ecosystem," he said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged the government to think beyond the immediate future.

"Think 20 years. Don't think of four or five years. Think 20 years ahead and develop the entire ecosystem," Vaishnaw said.

Following what he described as the success of Semicon 1.0, the government is now launching Semicon 2.0.

Vaishnaw said the government also plans to upload a detailed explainer for students and others interested in learning more about the semiconductor industry.