korrents

What Brian Potter thinks about semiconductors

@brian-potter · 43 positions · 1 change of mind

Structural engineer and writer, author of the Construction Physics newsletter, where he takes apart how large physical things — buildings, ships, semiconductor fabs, aeroplanes — actually get made, and why the cost of making them moves the way it does.

Everything they publish, on ppll ↗

Brian Potter did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

5 dated positions, 2024, in their own words. Our reading of what Brian Potter has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingThe high-purity quartz of Spruce Pine is a real chokepoint in chipmaking, but not an irreplaceable one.

    Their wordsSpruce Pine quartz isn’t quite an irreplaceable linchpin in semiconductor manufacturing.

    ↗Does All Semiconductor Manufacturing Depend on Spruce Pine Quartz?construction-physics.com 1st of 2 in this piece

    Interesting
  2. 6 months earlier

  3. Our readingThe same law that made chips cheaper made the factories that produce them enormously more expensive.

    Their wordsThese enormous costs are ultimately due to the same factor that has steadily driven down the cost of semiconductors: Moore’s Law, the observation that the number of components on an integrated circuit tends to double every two years.

    ↗How to Build a $20 Billion Semiconductor Fabconstruction-physics.com 1st of 7 in this piece

    Interesting

  5. Our readingA semiconductor fab is mostly its tools; the building around them is the cheap part.

    Their wordsRoughly 70-80% of the cost of a new fab will be the process tools that go in it.

    ↗How to Build a $20 Billion Semiconductor Fabconstruction-physics.com 3rd of 7 in this piece

    Interesting

  7. Our readingEvery new process node makes a fab about 30 per cent more expensive to build than the one before it.

    Their wordsFor modern semiconductor fabs, each new process node increases fab cost by about 30%.

    ↗How to Build a $20 Billion Semiconductor Fabconstruction-physics.com 5th of 7 in this piece

    Interesting

  9. Our readingA semiconductor fab costs what it costs because it is a mass-production factory that has to hold atomic precision around the clock.

    Their wordsThe second is that producing semiconductors requires almost unfathomable levels of precision.

    ↗How to Build a $20 Billion Semiconductor Fabconstruction-physics.com 7th of 7 in this piece

    Interesting