Can silicon chips be made from any scoop of sand?

Question

Silicon is the most abundant element on Earth and is the primary component in sand. Another product made from sand is glass. I learned in the past that glass industry is picky where they mine the raw sand. I wonder if sand for making silicon chips requires equal or higher quality.

Answer 1

Of course they are, they want pure Silicon not junk. Sand isn't pure unless you purify it. In the glass industry that can add colors you don't want in the chip industry it can add impurities that can change the electrical properties of the chip; so purity is critical.

According to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand
"Sand is a granular material made up of fine mineral particles. It is a naturally occurring, finely divided rock.

Sand comprises particles, or granules, ranging in diameter from 0.0625 (or 1⁄16 mm) to 2 millimeters. An individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain. The next smaller size class in geology is silt: particles smaller than 0.0625 mm down to 0.004 mm in diameter. The next larger size class above sand is gravel, with particles ranging from 2 mm up to 64 mm (see particle size for standards in use). Sand feels gritty when rubbed between the fingers (silt, by comparison, feels like flour). Sand is commonly divided into five sub-categories based on size: very fine sand (1/16 - 1/8 mm diameter), fine sand (1/8 mm - 1/4 mm), medium sand (1/4 mm - 1/2 mm), coarse sand (1/2 mm - 1 mm), and very coarse sand (1 mm - 2 mm). These sizes are based on the Φ sediment size scale, where size in Φ = -log base 2 of size in mm. On this scale, for sand the value of Φ varies from -1 to +4, with the divisions between sub-categories at whole numbers."

Answer 2

It's all about the impurity content of the sand. In glass, impurities cause undesireable cloudiness or odd colors. But, sometimes, certain impurities are deliberately added in controlled amounts to deliberately color the glass.

In silicon used for semiconductor fabrication, they cause undesireable changes in the electrical characteristics. But certain impurities (called 'dopants') are always added in controlled amounts to modify the electrical characteristics.

Yeah, they're pretty picky about it ☺

Doug

Answer 3

Verily. It is not just silicon but also carefully introduced impurities that define the underlying behavior of the chips.

Answer 4

complex step. research over google and yahoo. that might help!

Answer 5

complicated situation. look into into the search engines. this might help!