Silicon ingot, 1978-1980

Silicon ingot, unknown maker, 1978-1980 Silicon ingot, unknown maker, 1978-1980 Silicon ingot, unknown maker, 1978-1980 Silicon ingot, unknown maker, 1978-1980

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Silicon ingot, unknown maker, 1978-1980
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Silicon ingot, unknown maker, 1978-1980
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Silicon ingot, unknown maker, 1978-1980
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Silicon ingot, unknown maker, 1978-1980
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Silicon ingot, unknown maker, 1978-1980.

One of the many uses of silicon is as the base material for microchips. Silicon is a natural semiconductor with properties that make it good for producing tiny transistors, which are the key components of microprocessors. Microprochips hold many hundreds of transistors on a tiny piece of silicon. The silicon is purified, melted and cooled to form an ingot like this, then sliced into thin wafers ready to be turned into microchips.

Details

Category:
Computing & Data Processing
Object Number:
2006-150
Materials:
silicon
Measurements:
overall: 660 mm x 150 mm diameter, 10.595 kg
type:
ingot