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Discussion on Article:
University Professor Develops Cheaper and Greener Way to Produce Silicon.

Started by: gamoniac | Date 01/25/13 09:17:56 PM
Comments: 8 | Last Comment:  01/28/13 07:10:51 PM

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1. 
Nice! Though I would love to know roughly how much (%) of the cost of CPU manufacturing is made up of making crystalline silicon, in comparison to the cost of R&D, design, testing, marketing, etc.
1 0 [Posted by: gamoniac  | Date: 01/25/13 09:17:56 PM]
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Not much, ~5-10% depending on what you develop. Mostly it is the price of fab+equipment, then R&D if it is a sophisticated CPU/GPU.
0 0 [Posted by: PsiAmp  | Date: 01/28/13 05:35:16 PM]
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2. 
In interesting proposition, but years away from producing silicon in industrial quantities. As gamoniac questions, the cost of the silicon in a CPU must be pretty negligible, but this could be more relevant the production of solar panels.
0 0 [Posted by: qd50  | Date: 01/26/13 04:44:05 AM]
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3. 
Using quicksilver for production, I don't see how is greener....
0 0 [Posted by: TAViX  | Date: 01/27/13 02:58:36 AM]
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They don't use quicksilver. They use gallium.
0 0 [Posted by: PsiAmp  | Date: 01/28/13 05:36:39 PM]
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4. 
The problem though is that normally the silicon we see used in semiconductors is one HUGE crystal they slice into wafers. There are some pretty awesome pictures of this if you look up images for a "silicon boule"

The challenge wasn't just the ability to refine silicon, it's getting it to grow into a gigantic pure monocrystal. I think?

However, maybe things like solar cells don't require this?

Maybe I'm underestimating the task of getting the raw silicon?
1 0 [Posted by: xrror  | Date: 01/27/13 05:07:06 PM]
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Yes, I would love to see how they can grow monocrystal with 450 mm diameter.
0 0 [Posted by: PsiAmp  | Date: 01/28/13 05:38:03 PM]
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5. 
1 Word: Monocrystal. This isn't it, so it's useless for making ingots.
0 0 [Posted by: AnonymousGuy  | Date: 01/28/13 07:10:51 PM]
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