Inside a Microchip
Rouss May 20th, 2008
Ever wonder whats inside an IC (Integrated Circuit) chip? You know, inside the black things with metal spikes. Well it turns out you can get somewhat descent results with a simple point-and-shoot camera, a heat gun and an exacto knife. If you don’t have a heat gun you can use a butane lighter but its easier to burn the chip so take your time. I’m not sure if a hair dryer would get hot enough, I doubt it would but its worth a try. By heating up the chip with your heat gun you are able to cut away the black protective coating to reveal the heart of the device. Needless to say this will destroy the chip and might need to cut into a couple before you get the hang of it. Start by scraping thin layers in the center of the chip and keep going until you hit the silicon (you’ll know it when you hit it). Next take out your handy dandy camera put it on the highest resolution and the ‘take a close picture’ setting if you have one. Then start taking pictures. Of course, there are many places online to find higher quality pictures, but whats the fun in that. Below are my results, not perfect but none the less interesting.
- Electronic , Ideas
- Comments(0)