Web Resources
Looking for extra resources?
SCALE K-12 has collected a set of curated third-party videos and articles that cover topics related to microelectronics. You will find resources to help you gain valuable background information, learn more about a specific ME topic, and support your ME knowledge as you teach.
These resources align with topics found in SCALE K-12 units. They cover a wide range of topics and knowledge levels.
As these are third party resources, their creators are responsible for their content. If you wish to share a resource with your students, ensure it meets your school and classroom guidelines and grade-level appropriateness.
Microelectronics Overview
These resources discuss how microelectronics are made and why they are important to everyday life.
A thorough and technical explanation of the microelectronics manufacturing process. Branch Education
News story that includes history and current affairs along with some of the manufacturing steps and challenges. Story on Scripps News
Animated overview accessible to a wide age range. TED Ed lesson page
One-minute overview that is appropriate for a wide age range.
Lecture-style overview of the semiconductor industry that discusses semiconductor history, future, and importance.
Other media sources
Roadtrip Nation > Chip In (alternate source on PBS Learning Media)
Look Inside a Microchip / Nanoscale
These videos show magnified views of microchips. Could be useful for discussing scale and complexity of circuits.
Walkthrough of an old model microchip, scale of circuits is still relevant today even if the chip itself is obsolete.
Short, silent magnified view of an old model microchip.
Focus is on scale of transistors, images are animations.
A digitally-created zoom-in of a smartphone chip. Images from different microscope sources are stitched together but the effect is good.
Circuits & Electricity
Gain background and insights into how electricity and circuits work.
Simple circuit demonstration and explanation. Geared towards elementary and middle school students. Chip Kids
Series and parallel circuits, with a focus on resistance and the application of Ohm’s law. Episodes 25-31 cover electrical and circuit basics. Crash Course Physics
Overview of electricity and circuit basics that is accessible to a range of teacher backgrounds.
Focus is on how electricity works, has reference to circuits embedded.
Tools & Activities
University of Colorado PhET Interactive Simulations > Circuit Construction Kit: DC - Virtual Lab
Articles / Other media sources
More from Chip Kids: Season 1, Episode 2 “Light It Up”
Georgia Public Broadcasting > Physics in Motion > Unit 5: Electricity & Magnetism
SparkFun > What is a Circuit?
All About Circuits > What Are Electrical Circuits
Silicon, Semiconductors, & Raw Materials
Learn about silicon as a raw material and how it becomes silicon wafers. Note that there is a lot of similarity between the silicon used in solar cells and microelectronics. The silicon in microelectronics goes through extra purification.
Shows how quartz rock is smelted into molten silicon for use in solar cells. Similar process works for microelectronics.
Explanation of semiconductors as a class of materials. Non-Youtube source on PBS Learning Media
Discusses the process of making pure silicon and references US quartz resources.
Somewhat technical, but primarily shows a little bit about the many steps that go into making silicon wafers.
Articles / Other media sources
WUNC’s The Broadside > The rock that runs the world
Photolithography & Etching
Photolithography and etching are two fundamental processes used to build transistors on silicon wafers.
Describes the processes of extreme ultraviolet photolithography using thorough but technical language.
Explanation of the basics of etching. Non-Youtube source on PBS Learning Media
Highlights the engineering of the EUV machine and how the machine makes the EUV light necessary for the process. Has a good overview of how chips are made.
Covers the basics of photolithography and etching, along with some of the other processes.
Articles / Other media sources
ASML Nanoland > How are microchips made (Episode 6)
SK Hynix (article) > Etching Fine and Identical Wafer Patterns
Wikipedia > Chemistry of Photolithography
University of Texas at Austin > Chris Mack’s CHE 323 Micro and Nanofabrication
Cyanotype > SciShow Kids Taking Pictures with the Sun!
Cyanotype > The blueprint reaction
Transistors
Transistors are the fundamental building blocks of microelectronics. A transistor is a tiny semiconductor component that controls electrical current flow without any moving parts. A transistor can act as a switch to turn current on or off, or it can act as an amplifier to strengthen signals when partially turned on. Transistors can be etched into the integrated circuit of a microchip, or they can be made as discrete electronic components. Either way, they work the same.
Every transistor has three terminals. Two of the terminals carry the main current flow through the transistor. The third terminal acts as a switch, controlling whether current flows between the other two. Applying a voltage to this switch activates it. Depending on the transistor's design, the applied voltage either allows current to flow through the transistor (turning it "on") or blocks current flow (turning it "off"). This on/off switching allows transistors to process the 1s and 0s of digital computing.
An approachable science-based explanation of transistors and semiconductors.
An accessible introduction to transistors that includes history and basic digital logic. TED Ed lesson page
An introductory explanation to doping based in chemistry.
Shows how doping allows electron control in silicon.
A thorough and detailed explanation of transistors.
A short overview of transistors, discussing their tiny size and how they use binary numbers to operate circuits.
Doping
Transistors are made from semiconductor materials, typically silicon. Pure silicon doesn't conduct electricity very well. It's neither a good conductor like copper nor a complete insulator like rubber. This in-between property makes it useful for transistors, but only after it's been modified. To make silicon functional for electronics, manufacturers add tiny amounts of other elements through a process called doping. There are two types of doping:
N-type doping: Adding elements (like phosphorus) that create excess electrons in the material.
P-type doping: Adding elements (like boron) that create "holes" where electrons are missing.
Engineers combine regions of N-type and P-type silicon to use the extra electrons and the open holes to control how the electrons flow through the transistor and the larger circuit that holds the transistor.
A chemistry-based explanation of doping that references the periodic table and valence electrons.
Digital Logic
Digital logic is the process that microelectronics use to accept, store, process, and share information. Each transistor can be in one of two states within a circuit: it can be on or it can be off. Digital logic conceptually represents these states using binary numbers, with on being represented by 1 and off by 0. Placing transistors in specific circuit patterns allows microchips to make decisions. These special transistor circuits are called logic gates. Logic gates accept binary inputs and, based on the circuit function, produce a single output.
There are six fundamental logic gates: NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR, and XOR. The NOT gate, also called an inverter, is the simplest gate. It accepts an input and reverses it, so it would flip a 1 to a 0 or vice versa. The remaining gates each have a unique set of rules to determine what output will happen for any given input pattern. Combining gates into increasingly complex circuits allows more sophisticated microelectronics functionality.
The logic behind each gate function is based on operations in Boolean algebra, which is the math of true and false. Just like binary can represent on/off of transistors, it can also represent true (1) and false (0) for conditions. Using true and false as binary information is important in computer science, both in programming and in how the programming works with the microelectronics.
Good introduction to logic gates, with both connections to transistors and computer science. Alternate link on PBS Learning Media.
Basic logic operation explainer using truth tables.
Building logic gates using discrete transistors and zero programming.
Uses logic as the foundation for explaining how transistors and computers work. Part 1 is a good explainer for logic gates and binary. Part 2 links to programming. Part 3 shows applications.
Articles / Other media sources
SparkFun Electronics tutorial> Digital Logic
OSLIS Elementary Videos > Searching Effectively using Boolean Operators
Careers
Agilities (Teacher Resource)
Roadtrip Nation documentary: Chip In
Main site or alternate link on PBS Learning Media
Semi Foundation supplemental resources: Summary and Teacher Guide
National Network for Microelectronics Education: SemiSphere
Florida Semiconductor Engine: Industry Career Resources & ETCH Workforce for students
Learning Path: Becoming a Semiconductor Engineer