TI's semiconductor research and development lab has recorded the world's fastest cycle time for manufacturing an integrated circuit, popularly known as a computer chip. We have processed wafers of advanced ICs in less than three days. We were able to achieve this fast cycle time by using single-wafer processing at all manufacturing steps. IC manufacturing traditionally has used many batch processes, which are inherently slower.
Wafers are flat, mirror-like disks of polished silicon on which integrated circuits are fabricated.
The traditional method of manufacturing ICs involves large numbers of wafers, or batches, processed together. While cost-effective for applications requiring large quantities of commodity ICs, batch processing is relatively less efficient for producing small volumes of prototype, custom or application specific chips. The industry has the opportunity to take advantage of that reduced cycle time in various ways. One of the biggest advantages might be for rapid prototyping, even of commodity chips. A new chip design can be quickly fabricated and tested.