Brief Number 2: Semiconductor Manufacturing Processes
By Pei Xin, GIOAS Research Associate

In addition to knowledge intensity, the semiconductor manufacturing process is highly energy and resource intensive.

A single semiconductor manufacturer is rated to consume about 1 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year and 2-4 million gallons of water per day.  As global computing and data management operations increase, so will the demand for massive energy consumption and water usage.  Unfortunately, most of us have never been exposed to the manufacturing processes of modern chips. Our aim in this brief is not to present a detailed description of steps and techniques of semiconductor manufacturing technology but rather a general outline of the flows and interactions between the component processes.

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