ELECTRONICS: SEMICONDUCTOR FABRICATION
WHY SILICON?
- Silicon grows Silicon Dioxide with just simple exposure to oxygen. Silicon Dioxide is a high quality insulator and can be used as a barrier during diffusion (Jaeger, 29).
- Can be manufactured 'perfect.' If you can locate three atoms, you can plot the whole lattice.
- Silicon is the second most abundant element on earth (Oxygen is first)
- It's cheap