Virtually anything electronic has at least one semiconductor chip inside it and likely many more. From smartphones to automobiles and myriad other products and systems, the tiny devices are the physical building blocks of the digital age.
How semiconductors are manufactured is the topic of a free online course, titled Semiconductor Fabrication 101, developed by Purdue University, the University of Texas at Austin, Intel Corp. and a group of leading worldwide partners in the field.
The self-paced course, suitable for students and professionals alike, is designed to provide a basic understanding of semiconductor fabrication. The course, which takes three to five hours to complete, features engaging material on an array of industry-standard semiconductor fabrication processes. Those who complete the course receive a certificate issued jointly by Purdue, the University of Texas at Austin and Intel.
“It is intended for anyone who wants to know about semiconductor fabrication,” said Muhammad Hussain, a professor in Purdue’s Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The course lectures by luminaries from academia and industry are simple and easy to understand and offer a foundational knowledge in this area.”
Intel funded the development of the course by Hussain and Xiuling Li, Temple Foundation Endowed Professor in the Chandra Family Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Experts from the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University; the Georgia Institute of Technology; Pennsylvania State University; ASML; and Tokyo Electron Ltd. contributed to the curriculum.