[인생맛칩 Ep.9] Painting 8 billion skyscrapers on chip the size of a fingernail? Learn about the diffusion process with great difficulty – Samsung Semiconductor’s story

‘Diffusion’ in the dictionary meaning refers to a phenomenon in which atoms or molecules move from a high concentration to a low concentration. Among the eight major semiconductor processes, there is a diffusion process that utilizes this principle. To explain the rather unfamiliar and complicated concept of this process, Lim Young-cheol, who has been walking the diffusion process for 22 years at Samsung Electronics’ Semiconductor Memory Diffusion Technology Team, came forward.

A lot of data moves within a semiconductor chip. In order to do this smoothly, thin films are needed here and there in the chip to protect the passage of data in the chip and to prevent any problems in the performance of storing and calculating data. Diffusion is a very important process for creating this ‘membrane’. In particular, Samsung Electronics Semiconductor continues to evolve its diffusion process and facility technology, focusing on the technology of ‘stacking (depositing)’ ultra-thin films using gases or chemicals.

How difficult is the process of depositing a film on the wafer? First, think of the skyscraper in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa. If 8 billion buildings that are about 5 times taller than that are gathered on a single semiconductor chip, can you guess roughly? The diffusion process can be compared to painting these eight billion building walls very thin and the same thickness. It can be seen that this is a fairly advanced technique, right?

The ninth episode of ‘Life Taste Chip’, which uncovers the many stories hidden in semiconductors that enrich our lives. Let’s take a closer look at the diffusion process that overcomes the limitations of technology and cooks delicious wafers in the video.