A typical memory card costs just a few euros these days. Portable storage has reached a price we could only dream of a decade ago, and much of that drop is due to constant improvements in manufacturing. That raises the question: how are memory cards made? Thanks to a classic like How It's Made, we now know the answer...
From computers and smartphones to digital frames and e-readers, tablets, hidden cameras, audio gear, and much more. If we plan to store data on a device, it almost certainly has a slot for memory cards. SD cards and pendrives are no longer magical, unattainable accessories. Depending on the brand, a 32GB SD card usually averages 7 euros, confirming its wide availability. However, we didn't get here by chance, and the first step to understanding it is knowing how memory cards are made.
Learning how memory cards are made
https://www.youtube.com/embed/BcHZ1zVGFacIt all starts with a silicon wafer, processed in an environment a thousand times cleaner than an operating room. The wafer undergoes more than 800 operations, including the addition of materials like silicon dioxide, copper, and a special light-sensitive fluid. The bombardment of ultraviolet light on the exposed parts of the fluid triggers a chemical reaction that fixes the material on the bottom, over the circuit pattern.
A series of secondary chemical baths remove excess fluid and material, leaving only the useful circuits, with connections that are up to 2,000 times thinner than a human hair. A robot checks the function of each chip, but remember there are hundreds on a 12-inch wafer. The wafer loses two-thirds of its silicon (removed from the back), and before final separation of the chips, it gets a layer of tape to keep them together.
https://old.neoteo.com/monolith-data-recovery-extraccion-manual-de-informacion-en-tarjetas-sd-y-pendrives/A precision disc controlled by a computer cuts the chips, and a robotic arm removes them following the pattern generated during testing. Each approved chip is mounted on a fiberglass frame, and another robot makes the necessary connections using a gold wire. The chips are sealed in plastic and move to assembly. A station presses both halves of the casing, and another glues the label. The finished cards pass an additional electronic test and a final visual inspection before going into their packages.
Do you also want to know how microprocessors are made? Click the link!
