Semiconductor Value Chain

The semiconductor value chain is the sequence through which a chip moves from an idea to a tested component ready for use in an electronic product. Its core stages are design, wafer fabrication, and assembly, packaging and testing, supported by specialised materials, equipment, software and intellectual property.

Chip design

Design converts performance and functional requirements into a manufacturable circuit layout. Engineers develop the chip architecture, logic and physical layout using electronic design automation tools and reusable semiconductor intellectual property cores, then verify the design before releasing it for fabrication.

• A fabless company designs and markets chips but contracts out their physical production.

Wafer fabrication

A fabrication plant, or fab, forms many identical chips called dies on a semiconductor wafer. Repeated processes such as deposition, photolithography, etching, doping and metallisation create microscopic electronic devices and their interconnections.

• A foundry manufactures wafers for chip-design companies according to their designs.
• Fabrication depends on highly specialised machinery, ultrapure materials, chemicals, gases, photomasks, clean rooms and process knowledge.

Assembly, packaging and testing

After preliminary wafer testing, the wafer is cut into individual dies. Each functional die is connected to external terminals, enclosed in a protective package, and subjected to final electrical, functional and reliability tests.

• Specialised providers are commonly called outsourced semiconductor assembly and test firms.
• Packaging protects the die, enables electrical connections and helps manage heat.

Organisation and downstream integration

An integrated device manufacturer may undertake design, fabrication and packaging within one enterprise, while other firms specialise in individual stages. Tested chips then enter downstream industries such as electronics, telecommunications, automobiles, industrial systems and computing.