All language subtitles for Tomorrows.World.Today.S04E05.Semiconductors.in.Space.480p.x264-mSD_track3_[eng]

[narrator] Welcome!

On this episode
of Tomorrow's World Today,

we visit the world of production

to learn about how to make
semiconductors
that can work in space.

We explore how one company
is taking a bite
out of wafer production

by mimicking
extraterrestrial conditions
right here on earth.

From Inventionland
World Headquarters,

here's our host, George Davison.

Hi, everybody.

Well, a semiconductor
is something

that can conduct electricity

under some conditions,
but not under others.

Which means it can control

the electrical current,
basically.

Similar to how I can turn
this switch on and off,

with the press of a button.

But what if you need something

that can move the energy
a little faster, right?

Well, if you're lighting up
many different lights,

or turning on a lot of machines,

you're gonna need something
more like this motherboard.

And what this is gonna do

is to help
to direct the current.

And every time
I turn this switch,

it's gonna move another
cluster of lights.

As you can see,
they're coming on.

And they're getting more
and more complicated as I go.

This is where a semiconductor
comes into its own.

Let's take it one step further.

This is a wafer,

which is a type of
semiconductor
used in everything.

From phones, to satellites,

to even our spaceships.

In fact, many of the wafers
similar to this one

were used on the
Mars Perseverance Rover.

Once the wafer leaves
Earth's atmosphere,

it may be exposed to extreme
temperaturs,

different climates and even
space radiation.

Space radiation is made up
of high energy particles,

and heavy ions released
during solar flares,

or during other equally
explosive events

outside of our solar system.

Without Earth's magnetic field
to deflect space radiation

electronics are vulnerable
to its destruction.

So you have to make sure that
that wafer that you're using

can handle these most extreme
environmental situations.

Plus, they have to be reliable,

so that someone running them
here on Earth

knows that they're working
out there in space.

Now, let's catch up with Greg,

who's over at CAES,

to learn more about
semiconductors and space.

[Greg] Thanks, George,
I'm on the case.

Or should I say, I'm at CAES,
In Colorado Springs,

to learn how
they're making semiconductors

for use in missions
in outer space,

and how they're tackling
the Achilles' heel

of semiconductors, radiation,

all the while
making them reliable,

and able to withstand
the harshest conditions.

CAES is the leading provider

of radiation harden technology

to the aerospace
and defense industry.

Let's go inside now,
and meet David Meyouhas,

He is the senior director
of standard products

in the space systems division.

Hi, Dave,
it's great to meet you.

Hey, Greg, welcome to CAES
in Colorado Springs.

Thanks for having me,
this is a really exciting
time to be here,

with everything that's going
on in space exploration now,

this is a great time
to check out your facility.

One of the things
I was really surprised about

in doing research
for your company

is that you've been doing this
for 35 years.

You're absolutely right.

In fact, we started off
in the early '80s,

developing semiconductors

for the aircraft engine
control systems,

and we saw an opportunity
to really elevate the altitude

for where our products went,
and, where higher than space?

So we started developing
radiation hardened
microelectronics

based off of semiconductors,
and haven't looked back since.

That's amazing, I can't wait
to find out more about it.

We've got a lot to talk about.

Let's head on over to
the mission control rooms.

Let's go.

Greg, I'd like to walk you
through a bit of a journey,

for CAES's contribution
into space.

It all starts off with the sun.

What we think here on Earth
of the sun, warm sunshine,

is actually radiation
bombarding the Earth.

- Now, we're protected by it
because of the magnetosphere.
- Mm-hm.

But once you send electronics
up into space,

like satellites,
they don't last very long.

That's what happened
in the '80s and '90s,

- where we had satellites
fail after six whole days.
- Wow.

Big investment
to have that fail after
such a short amount of time.

When we saw this,
we saw it as an opportunity,
our Eureka moment.

We had to get our engineers
to figure out how
to solve that problem.

So our engineers immediately
started working

on injecting
radiation hardness DNA

deep into
the semiconductor circuit.

Our first product
that was radiation hardened

actually went on
NASA's SAMPEX mission,

and it was initially
only designed to last
for three years,

but lasted for 20.

Wow!

Over the years,
we had many contributions

to the spacesuit,
the space shuttle program,

International Space Station,

GPS, which we all
know and love today,

Juno, and then finally,
something more recent,

the Mars Perseverance Rover.

This is a contribution
that CAES,

pioneering advanced
electronics across the years,

has been able to implement
a ton of content on there,

whether it be our processors,

our memory
radiofrequency devices,

power modules, waveguides,

motion controls,
it's all in there.

But, back down
to Colorado Springs,

let me take you to see Rich,

and see how we manufacture
integrated circuits.

Sounds great.

[narrator]
The atmosphere in space

is much different than
the atmosphere on Earth.

And if we're trying
to power everything
from satellites to spaceships,

we have to take
that environment
into consideration.

So far, we've learned
about how radiation
is the Achilles' heel

when it comes to
creating something

that can handle
the harsh elements.

Now it's time to learn more
about how semiconductors

that can handle
space's atmosphere

are made right here on Earth.

So Greg, I'd like
to introduce you

to our manager of
process engineering,
Mr. Rich Measmer.

- Hey, Rich, nice to meet you!
- Nice to meet you, Greg.

So Rich will be walking you
through our clean room,

where we manufacture
and assemble

all of our radiation hardened
semiconductors.

- Sounds great.
- You're in good hands.

Thanks a lot, Dave.

So Greg, there's some things
you need to consider

when making something
space ready.

Any idea on
what you might consider?

I would think
a key consideration

would probably be
the atmosphere.

You're correct!
Other things to consider

are keeping the contaminants
from Earth out of the package,

so we don't take those to space

and potentially damage
the package as well.

So I guess that's why
we're going to go take
a look at the clean room.

- That's correct.
- All right, let's go
take a look.

Follow me.

[machines whirring]

Okay, Greg, I want to welcome
you to the clean room.

Great.

I'd like to show you
a wafer being cut,

then we'll walk through
the assembly process.

Okay.

So we've just seen
the wafer being cut.

[Greg] Right.

- So now I'd like to show you
the singulated die...
- Okay.

as we go into
the manufacturing process.

- So this is how it comes to
you from the cutting process?
- That is correct, yes.

- All right, show me
what happens next.
- All right.

All right Greg, so now
we're going to show you

- the manufacturing process.
- Great.

So right now
it's dispensing epoxy...

Okay.

on the die.

This will help
hold the die in place
through launch conditions,

which might have vibration,
constant acceleration...

Now we're picking up the die,

it's going over the red light,

verifying proper orientation,

and placing it onto the epoxy
that we just dispensed.

Then the next step
will be to connect this

to the outside world
through the wire bond process.

Okay, can we see
how that's done?

- Absolutely, let's go.
- All right.

[Greg] Tell me
what's happening, here.

[Rich] Right now we're
ultrasonically bonding

the wire between the die
and the package itself.

And this is basically
how it's going to communicate
with the outside world.

Correct, so the wires
are allowing a functionality

between the package and the die.

[Greg] All right great,
what happens next?

From here, we'll go to lid seal.

- All right, let's see it.
- Great.

So Rich, I see you have a new
piece of equipment on there,

what's that for?

This is an ESD strap.

This is gonna
protect the package

from electrostatic discharge.

Oh, and I know that's important,

because electrostatic discharge,

it can damage chips in a way
that you might not know
for years.

That's correct, Greg.

And now I'm attaching
the lid to the package,
and clipping it,

so that we can
go to the seal operation

to form that hermetic seal
before it goes on,

and shipped into space.

[Greg] It's nice to see that
with all of the automation

that you guys have
going on here,

that this is still done by hand.

Yes, this is one of the few
remaining manual processes.

Now we're ready
for the lid seal process.

- Let's go see it.
- Great, let's go.

So Rich, this is totally cool,

you're going to have to
explain to me,

what exactly is organic burnout?

If you're in
the die test process,

there may have been
some organic stuff
on the die itself.

So this is gonna burn those off,

and seal the package
at the same time.

You're ready to go test it,
and get it up into space.

That's correct,
onto test after this,

in preparation for space.

So Rich, we sent this through
the organic burnout machine,

and that seals the lid properly,

but now we need to test it.

Yes, so what we're gonna do here

is test to ensure that
we don't have a path
for moisture to get in,

and so we can keep
contaminants
out of the package

for when it goes into space.

After this, we'll go
and we'll test it at -65 C
for temperature extremes.

- Let's do it.
- Let's go.

- Want me to put you to work?
- I'm ready.

Let's go ahead in place this
into the temp cycle chamber.

Okay.

And once we get done
testing at the extremes,

then we'll run the final test
to ensure functionality
of the parts.

Well, let's head over there.

Let's go.

So Greg, now that we've
completed stress testing,

at hot and cold,

it's on to a final
electrical test.

- All right, can you tell me
exactly what's happening here?
- Sure.

What we're doing here is
we're performing electrical
tests on semiconductors

at room temperature.

However, we will
also perform it
at the temperature extremes.

So let's see how we can
take what we've just learned,

and apply that here on Earth.

- Let's do it.
- Let's go.

[David] How we're testing
is extremely aggressive.

I like to say we're beating
the crap out of the parts

for six to 12 months,

putting it in an oven,
putting it in a freezer,

cycling the temperature,
exciting it electrically,

making sure that you test
the entire gamut of that
product for months on end,

to really ensure
that it survives

at the end of that test process,

and that helps guarantee
and assure

that in space, when it would
see similar conditions,

it would continue to function
as designed and as intended.

[narrator] We've learned
how semiconductors
used in outer space

have to be ready to handle
harsh conditions.

But everything that
they've done to help
with space missions

can also be applied
to us earthlings, too.

So Rich, it's pretty obvious

that every semiconductor
that CAES makes

doesn't end up in outer space.

What can you tell me
about what CAES does

to help us
more earthbound folks?

So, have you ever had
an x-ray, or a CAT scan?

I've had an x-ray.

Okay, well similar to space,
with the radiation,

those devices will also
emit radiation.

So basically, anything
designed, built, and
tested to go into outer space

is going to be able to
withstand the rigors of
the healthcare industry?

- That's correct, Greg.
- All right, great.

So tell me about this machine.

This is a pick-and-place
machine.

It's taking components
in these reels here,

and putting them on substrates.

So, each one of these
little dots is
an electrical component?

- [Rich] That's correct.
- [Greg] That's amazing.

[Rich] And in smaller reels,

you have upwards of
10,000 components,

and in a larger one,
closer to 50,000.

And how exactly do you affix
the components to the chip?

[Rich] So, we'll put
solder paste on it.

That helps hold the components
as it's going
through the line.

Once components
have been placed,

we'll put them in here,

and that will reflow
the components

and secure them to the package.

[Greg] So it's a little like
the organic burnout machine
we saw earlier?

- [Rich] Correct.
- All right, great.

So, this has been fascinating,
the clean room is amazing,

I have to admit,
this has been a blast.

But I have got to
get out of this stuff.

Can we go see some boards
being built?

We can do that,
let's go this way.

Let's go.

[David] Radiation isn't only
a concern up in space,

it's also a concern
here on Earth.

If you've ever had an x-ray,

those same radiation elements
that you would see
out in space

are also seen inside a hospital.

And so it's important that
the electronics
within x-ray equipment

are also designed
to be able to be tolerant,
or resistant, to radiation.

So Rich, we've done the testing,

can we build a board?

Yes, in fact, the board build
starts right here.

First operation is to print
the paste on the board.

[Greg] Okay, and this unit
is very similar

to the one we saw
in the other room?

- Absolutely, Greg.
- What happens next?

And after that, then we go
and we inspect the paste

to ensure that the right volume

has been placed onto the board.

Once the paste
has been applied,
then we'll come around,

and we'll start adding
components to the SMT line.

Now this is really similar
to the other device
that we saw in the other room,

it's basically putting
the same kind of components,

but now on a board,
rather than on
the chip itself.

[Rich] You're correct.

And now we're going to move
to the next system,

and those packages
that we were building
in the clean room,

that's where we're going to
apply those to the board.

So once the chips
are on the board,
then it's gonna go in,

we're gonna perform
an inspection on it.

And what we're doing there,
is we're ensuring

that they've been
placed properly,

they're rotated correctly,

if there's any other criteria,
mark-wise,

we want to make sure that
that's correct
on there as well.

Once we're complete with
inspection,

now we want to make sure
that the components
are fixed to the board.

So, we're gonna
reflow it together.

[Greg] This is similar to
the unit that we saw over
in the healthcare division.

- That's correct, Greg.
- All right.

Now, I imagine once these
things are all put together,

you don't just wrap them
in a little bit of bubble wrap
and drop them in the mail.

Shipping's got to be
a real thing here.

[Rich] Yeah, so you are correct.

We will not put it
in bubble wrap,

it will go into
a specialized container,

and that'll get sealed,
and then it'll be shipped.

Okay, can we see that happen?

-Yes, let's go see it
-Let's go take a look.

[Rich] So Greg, we've made it
to final pack.

Here's what I'd like
to show you,

how we take the semiconductors
we've been following,

and get them ready to ship.

As you can see,
these are matrix trays,

which are designed
for the package.

That's gonna help keep them
secure and stationary
while we ship.

We'll secure the matrix trays
with rubber bands,

so that those
don't shift either,

and we'll place them in a box,

and that'll keep
everything secure.

[Greg] Great.

And then when we're
done and ready,

we'll place it in
a moisture barrier bag

to keep moisture out
during shipment,
and it's all set.

And this thing
looks like it's worried
to be sent into outer space.

You got it, Greg.

Rich, this has been amazing,
thank you so much,

I'm heading back
to Inventionland,

-we'll see you soon
-Thank you, Greg.

- Hi, David.
- Hey, George.

Thanks for coming all the way
in from Colorado Springs.

Thanks for having me.

I gotta tell you,
we had a great time

showing Greg around
our manufacturing site,

and talking to him about
how we design and build
semiconductors for space.

Well that's a good segue, space!

So tell me,
what's the future of space
and your organization?

Future of space
is all about chiplets.

- Chiplets?
- Chiplets!

Think about it as
a big cinderblock,

where you're trying to jam in
all that capability,

all that computational prowess,

into one cinderblock.

What chiplets do is
they break that cinderblock up
into smaller chiplets,

like building blocks
that your kids
used to play with.

- Okay.
- And what that does
is enable us

to take each one
of those building blocks

that have the most capability,

and build up an entire system

that our customers
can modulate and customize

depending on their mission,
or their spacecraft,

or their satellite,
or their rover.

That's a big innovation.

So I'm able to pick and choose,

almost standardized chiplets,

and build them up in accordance

with the needs that I have
for my particular mission.

- Absolutely. In fact, I have
an example here for you.
- Mm-hm.

These two elements, right here,

these are two
individual chiplets.

And depending on
the configuration,

or what mission the customer
is trying to solve,

you could add additional
chiplets at the bottom.

So those four
golden squares there

are additional capacity
that I can get to?

That is a space for us
to add additional
building blocks,

or chiplets, to the system.

Well that's pretty wonderful.

So in other words,
I have expandability,

if my project is different
than your project,

and I can use these basic
building blocks,

I can go off
in my own direction,

and not have to
customize everything,

- is that...
- Correct.

Scalability, leveraging
the greatest...

Latest and greatest technology
for each application.

That's wonderful,
great innovation, David!

What else do you have
for us today?

Great question.

Here we have our actual
first microcontroller
that went up in space

out of CAES in Colorado Springs.

This was the one that
was initially designed

on the NASA SAMPEX mission.

It was... That entire mission
was intended to only survive
three years,

- but lasted 20.
- 20!

Wow, that design team
did a great job, now.

- They sure did, they sure did.
- Well done.

Moving on, we also have

our latest generation
microcontroller.

Now, just take a look at
the size difference

between the one that was
designed in the early '90s,

and the ones we have today.

And we have even more
computational power,

or capability,
loaded in that small chip,

and it draws less power,

it's really just
a magnificent example

of innovation for
semiconductors over time.

You will be able to
make it smaller,

you're able to get
more out of it.

Well, if you're only using
a solar panel up there,

you don't want to consume
more energy than necessary.

- Exactly.
- That's big, that's a big one.

Finally, piece de resistance,

our LEON microprocessor.

This one, we actually have
a replica of it,

but it's up
on the Martian surface

on the Mars Perseverance Rover.

It's helping out
with lab experiments

to help convert CO2 into oxygen

with the intent to eventually
have oxygen on Mars.

As you know, if we ever
want to inhabitate Mars,

it's gonna take
some oxygen up there.

Count me in!

I want to be on
the first group to go up
and breathe on Mars!

I'd like to help you get there.

[laughing] All right!

Oh, by the way,
these are for yours to keep.

It's CAES's gift to
Tomorrow's World Today,
for you to showcase.

Oh, thank you!
Well you know what,
that's gonna work out great!

Because we get thousands
of kids through here,

we'll put a showcase
together for CAES,

and put the chips in there,

we'll tell the story of
innovation in space,
how's that sound?

I love it.

All right, well, thanks
for coming in!

Thanks for having me, take care!

Bye-bye.

Where do I see
leveraging chiplets
onto the next 30 years?

Really, taking our pedigree
and our history

of robust, reliable
radiation hardened design,

bringing that over to chiplets,

and really helping enable
space exploration,

new space constellations
around the Earth,

and really just
expanding humanity's reach

into extreme environments.

We hope you have enjoyed
learning about
semiconductors in space,

on this episode of
Tomorrow's World Today.

For Tomorrow's World Today,

I'm reminding you that new ideas

are the source of innovation.

What will you do with yours,
in tomorrow's world,

today?