IC

Many Integrated Circuits (ICs) or Chips can be fabricated
on a single wafer of silicon crystal.

The image shows a silicon wafer at 2x zoom magnification (4x area),
and was scanned from an actual wafer. This one holds approximately 1500
ICs (you are welcome to count them..).

Each IC is checked by a machine - many ICs are defective, and these ones
are destroyed by puncturing them with a small hole, to make absolutely
sure they can't slip into the final product. The defective ICs are clearly
visible in the image, as the punctures show up as black rectangles.

You will also notice some much larger holes through the wafer -
these are used for secure mounting during the error-checking process.



IC wafer with errors