Intel Factory Tour 2023: Here’s How Intel Processors Are Made
Sep. 19, 2023Intel Malaysia: Kulim and Penang Facilities
Before we talk about the step-by-step manufacturing process, let me give you a quick brief about Intel Malaysia. The Penang facility was the company’sfirst off-shore siteoutside the US, set up back in 1972. It started with 100 employees but now spans two Intel facilities, one in Penang and the other in Kulim, and employs 15,000+ employees.
Though Penang was our first stop on the tour, it is the Kulim KM2 facility where an Intel chip begins its journey. This location carries out the Die Prep and Die Sort operation, which I’ve explained in detail below, and then the die is transported to the Penang facility, where the processor is brought to life – assembled, stress-tested, and made sure it’s ready for use.
A morning bus rideacross the Penang bridgebrought me and other global media personnel to the KMDSDP facility in Kulim. Here, we all donned protective gear and headed into the first laboratory, where the Die Preparation process happens.
Everyone was in awe when we entered, as the laboratory wasbathed in amber (orange) lighting. Why? It’s because the silicon wafers are attached to a mylar sheet, which is sensitive to UV lightning and loses its stickiness pretty quickly. Thus, amber lighting is necessary for this part of the process, ensuring thedies stay in position when cut and separated.
Note: Here, we also learned that the 300mm silicon wafers used for making the die aren’t created at the Malaysian factories but are instead shipped from Intel’s fabs in the United States, Israel, and other locations.
After being attached to the mylar sheet, the silicon wafer goes through a multi-step process. Firstly, it might go through a grinding process to thin the wafer for making mobile chips, and then the wafer is sent forlaser scribing(to create individual dies).
Now that the dies have been scribed, each wafer goes through themechanical cuttingprocess. This machine, which we couldn’t see in action, is equipped with two diamond-tipped blades to precisely cut each die (while making minor incisions in the mylar sheet). Furthermore, the wafer is constantly bathed in cold water to avoid heating and remove debris.
The dies are then placed into individual slots on a transfer media (sticky bottom and enclosed in plastic trays) and sent for testing. Yeah, it is now time for the die testing and sorting process. For this, we exit the amber lighting room and visit the adjacent room that houses Intel’s massivetesting/ sorting machinescalled SDX.
The machine is the size of a small bus, with each side housing 20 individual test cells. These test cellsweigh over 1,000 poundsand are made at the Kulim factory, giving Intel the freedom to update and optimize the testing process when required. It also enables them to troubleshoot cells when needed.
But what exactly is the job of the test cell? The test cell includes a probe card that has thousands of tiny hair-like needles that connect to the dies tocheck their circuitryand to“check for any defect and measure their performance.”Once dies get the green light from this machine, they are placed back in the transfer media.
These trays are then collected by blue-coloredautomated guidance vehicles (AGVs)and deposited in the storage room. These robots require zero human intervention and make sure no SDX runs out of testing dies at any point. The tested chips are then transferred back to the amber light room, where a robotic arm separates the good dies from the bad ones.
The chips, depending on their configuration, are then placed in different circular reels and transported to the Penang facility for assembly. The chips that didn’t pass the test are collected and discarded or recycled. We also visited the failure testing lab in Intel Kulim, witnessing all the different techniques the company employs to find defects in the wafer fab, dies, and even the final processor.
Bunny suits aside, this second half of the chip manufacturing process includes six key stages – attaching individual dies to the PCB, epoxy underfill, attaching the heat spreader, and, well, further testing. But we have condensed them into four major steps. Let’s look at how the Penang facility operates:
But how does Intel mount the dies to the substrate? Well, this is where the next step in the process comes in. You see there’s ayellowish outline around the chipin the image below; it’sepoxy underfillthat’s applied evenly to remove any gaps between the chips and the substrate.
This is also the step where the edges of the Meteor Lake (or other mobile chips) are lined with adhesive to attach the support bracket. The bracket is used to, as the name suggests, to give support and weight to the substratethat’s becoming thinnerwith each iteration. Intel doesn’t want the substrate to crack or chip under pressure, hence, the bracket is essential in newer chips.
Yeah, our processor is almost ready. Next up, a robot is seen applying thermal paste as well as adhesive on the processor to attach the lid or the Integrated Heat Spreader on top. While I didn’t get to see the process for a mobile chip, the GIF demonstrates the lid attach step on the Ponte Vecchio GPUs.
And voila! Your Intelprocessor isnow ready for use, but before releasing it to the consumers, the company rigorously tests the chips for defects or anomalies.
The completed CPU is loaded into trays and sent for electrical and stress testing. In this stage, Intel subjects its chips to extremevoltages and temperaturesto ensure that only functional chips make it into the hands of the consumers. The stress tests are performed in Intel’s Penang facility in the Design and Development lab. As shown in the image below, this lab is packed with different equipment and a row of test benches to stress the CPU.
