How Microprocessors Are Made

The making of microprocessors is an extremely painstaking matter. Due to their minute size even a speck of dust can ruin a chip. Thus, although the most exacting procedures are used, a high proportion of the chips made are scrapped.

The process starts with a slice of pure silicon about half a millimeter thick, and a few inches wide. On this, several hundred microprocessors are made simultaneously, and later they are separated.

Intricate design drawings are made of the circuitry to be etched onto the layers of the chip. These are reduced by computer to one ten-thousandth of their original size, and then made into a photographic printing "mask." This is somewhat like a photographic negative, and is used to etch the circuit patterns onto the surface of the silicon slice. Further layers are built up on the silicon in a similar manner.

On completion, a computerised probe checks the chips to establish their usability. The acceptable ones are then sealed in a protective cover, ready for use.

Of course, credit must be given to the inventors of these amazing chips. But credit must also be given to the One who made the human brain, the materials used and the natural laws involved. All these more difficult things were made by a far greater "inventor," the Creator, the God Almighty.

Modern Uses Affect Our Lives

Due to the microprocessor revolution, we now have pocket calculators, digital watches, television games and hobby computers. Microprocessors can be found in a host of other products too, such as washing machines, ovens, food blenders, cameras, telephones and automobiles. They make possible automatic controls that replace less reliable mechanical ones.

These "mini-computers" can handle many chores in the home. They can be used to store information, such as telephone numbers, personal records, reminders for paying bills, recipes and many other things. All of these can be called up at the touch of a button, or in response to a spoken command.

One manufacturer has marketed "the first sewing machine with an electronic brain." Instead of the seamstress having to make many tricky adjustments by hand, with this machine all she has to do is press the appropriate buttons for it to produce many complicated stitches. The skilled job of making a buttonhole, for example, becomes easy: just place a button in the machine's holder, and it does the rest itself!

In the past few years, shops have undergone notable changes. You may have noticed that modern cash registers are quite complex devices. If you see a display similar to that of an electronic calculator, then a microprocessor is in use. As well as totalling your bill, it can note the type of product you buy so that automatically a list is being built up of items the store needs to restock. And if you use a credit card to pay, it can be automatically checked with your bank.

In offices, "desk-sized computers will become nearly as common as typewriters," predicts Scientific American. They will store details of information needed for each person's job and will be far easier to handle than bulky files, ledgers and reference books.

"Word-processors" are an application of chip technology to typewriting. They take over a number of the repetitious aspects of typing. Many businesses send letters to their clients, and these letters often consist of standard paragraphs. A word-processor stores such basic paragraphs and types them automatically. It can also regulate line lengths, layout and even correct simple spelling errors. If the text has to be rearranged, the word-processor will do this and allow for other alterations. Two or three such devices can do the work of many more typists.

Factories have already become quite automated. In the past, the problem was to know how to teach a machine the complicated movements that come easily to a human worker. Microprocessors have largely overcome this problem and are being used to control robot arms.

Similar principles are being applied to farm work so that, for instance, ploughing can be performed by a driverless tractor, working continuously day and night.

Causes for Concern

This newfound electronic help is making more and more of man's tasks easier, with increased efficiency. It has helped to eliminate many boring and dangerous jobs, freeing people from much physical effort and saving them time.

However, freeing people from physical effort and giving them more time can be a mixed blessing. If the time is used unwisely, simply for seeking pleasure, it will not necessarily improve a person's life. It can do the opposite-degrade it. And having machines doing too much of our physical work can prove detrimental to our physical health.

For any of the advancements in technology to be used wisely, the knowledge needs to be balanced with appreciation of spiritual values. It needs to go hand in hand with unselfish concern for one's fellowman and a greater awareness of our Maker, since any good thing comes from his giving us life and the ability to improve it.

Credit must go not only to the inventors of these amazing chips, but also to our Creator, who gives the unique ability to produce such things.

Part of a "chip" enlarged over 100 times to show how complex it is.

A tiny chip only 1/4 inch square helps to bring us products such as these.