Semiconductor wafer, artwork - Stock-Grafiken

Computer enhanced image of a part of a semiconductor wafer. Wafers are divided up into blocks to make the integrated circuits ('chips') used in electronic devices. Hundreds of thousands of transistors can be fitted on a single chip and connected by conducting pathways. The complex pattern of circuits that comprises each chip is built-up in a series of processes involving masks, deposition of insulators and etchings. Finished chips are eventually diced from the wafer prior to packaging.