Electronics - Revision history

Michel Lamontagne: /* Fabrication on Mars */

2024-10-18T20:44:25Z

Fabrication on Mars

Michel Lamontagne: /* See also */

2024-10-18T20:43:08Z

Michel Lamontagne: /* Vacuum tube */ changed bar to millibar

2024-10-18T19:07:28Z

Vacuum tube: changed bar to millibar

Michel Lamontagne: /* Vacuum tube */

2024-10-18T19:06:57Z

Vacuum tube

RichardWSmith: /* Fabrication on Mars */ Primitive chips may still help.

2024-10-17T20:52:30Z

Fabrication on Mars: Primitive chips may still help.

RichardWSmith: /* Fabrication on Mars */ Formatting

2024-10-17T20:48:32Z

Fabrication on Mars: Formatting

RichardWSmith: /* Vacuum tube */ Vacuum is cheaper on Mars.

2024-10-17T20:46:56Z

Vacuum tube: Vacuum is cheaper on Mars.

Michel Lamontagne at 20:16, 10 August 2023

2023-08-10T20:16:14Z

Michel Lamontagne: /* Vacuum tube */

2023-08-10T20:10:38Z

Vacuum tube

RichardWSmith: Tiny junctions are more susceptible to one off faults from cosmic rays and are more easily damaged by radiation. Older semiconductors are less so.

2022-10-04T22:41:02Z

Tiny junctions are more susceptible to one off faults from cosmic rays and are more easily damaged by radiation. Older semiconductors are less so.

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 ===Fabrication on Mars===
 Semiconductors are built for very pure silicon with a dopant added to obtain the required characteristics.  Multiple refinement stages are required to obtain the desires purity. The final form of the silicon are 'boules' drawn from a basin of molten silicon and then cut into wafers.  As the manufacturing processes improve, the sizes of the boules and the number of transistors that can be etched onto them has grown as well, following an empirical growth formula called  Moore's law, with the number of transistors doubling roughly every two years.  Silicon is widely available on Mars and the same semiconductors required for transistors are also required for silicon based solar cells.  So the demand for solar cells will probably define the market for semiconductors on Mars, and define the required installations for their production.
-*Minimal fabs(reference) are a possible alternative to the multi billion dollars semiconductor fabs that exist today, and might be applicable to Mars and the small runs of product required for its industry.
+*Minimal fabs(1), or similar small scale manufacturing products, are a possible alternative to the multi billion dollars semiconductor fabs that exist today, and might be applicable to Mars and the small runs of product required for its industry.
 *Early semiconductor factories cost in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to build rather than the billion dollar plus factories of today.  Such early factories, while creating primitive chips, would still reduce the amount of materials needed to be imported from Earth.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:43, 18 October 2024
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	[[Category:Manufacture]]		[[Category:Manufacture]]
		+
		+	==References==
		+	1) https://www.yokogawa.com/ca/industries/semiconductor/minimal-fab/

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 This is the oldest kind of electronic device. It is made from [[glass]] and [[:category:metal|metal]]. Compared with semiconductor electronics the tubes are big, power consuming, but they are easier to produce. They are [[radiation]]-proof, which makes them suitable for long term applications under Martian [[environmental conditions]]. Nevertheless, the [[wear lifespan]] is limited by abrasion of the heating electrode.
 *Vacuum tube are used as switches and amplifier in electronic circuits, with an anode, a cathode and a number of intermediary grids depending on the function.
-*Vacuum tubes might be buildable with in situ resources fairly soon in the development of a settlement.  So for some applications they might be used rather than electronics.  However, if the link with Earth is good, it's unlikely that they will get developpd much.
+*Vacuum tubes might be buildable with in situ resources fairly soon in the development of a settlement.  So for some applications they might be used rather than electronics.  However, if the link with Earth is good, it's unlikely that they will get developed much.
 *A self replicating factory on Mars might be possible with vacuum tube technologies (ref to Alex Tolley's work)
 *Creating a high quality vacuum on Earth is expensive.  This may be cheaper to do on Mars, making such tubes less expensive.  (For example, the glass tubes are blown in the habitat.  They are then moved to a volume at Martian atmospheric pressure (~6 millibar) but kept dust free.  It is much easier to go from 6 millibar to a vacuum than to go from 1 bar to a vacuum.)

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 *Vacuum tubes might be buildable with in situ resources fairly soon in the development of a settlement.  So for some applications they might be used rather than electronics.  However, if the link with Earth is good, it's unlikely that they will get developpd much.
 *A self replicating factory on Mars might be possible with vacuum tube technologies (ref to Alex Tolley's work)
-*Creating a high quality vacuum on Earth is expensive.  This may be cheaper to do on Mars, making such tubes less expensive.  (For example, the glass tubes are blown in the habitat.  They are then moved to a volume at Martian atmospheric pressure (~0.6 bar) but kept dust free.  It is much easier to go from 0.6 bar to a vacuum than to go from 1 bar to a vacuum.)
+*Creating a high quality vacuum on Earth is expensive.  This may be cheaper to do on Mars, making such tubes less expensive.  (For example, the glass tubes are blown in the habitat.  They are then moved to a volume at Martian atmospheric pressure (~6 millibar) but kept dust free.  It is much easier to go from 6 millibar to a vacuum than to go from 1 bar to a vacuum.)
 ==Semiconductors==

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 Semiconductors are built for very pure silicon with a dopant added to obtain the required characteristics.  Multiple refinement stages are required to obtain the desires purity. The final form of the silicon are 'boules' drawn from a basin of molten silicon and then cut into wafers.  As the manufacturing processes improve, the sizes of the boules and the number of transistors that can be etched onto them has grown as well, following an empirical growth formula called  Moore's law, with the number of transistors doubling roughly every two years.  Silicon is widely available on Mars and the same semiconductors required for transistors are also required for silicon based solar cells.  So the demand for solar cells will probably define the market for semiconductors on Mars, and define the required installations for their production.
 *Minimal fabs(reference) are a possible alternative to the multi billion dollars semiconductor fabs that exist today, and might be applicable to Mars and the small runs of product required for its industry.
 ==See also==

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 [[Image:electronics_mix.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Printed circuit boards with a variety of electronic elements]]
-'''Electronics''' is a technology for [[automation]] and the basis for modern information technology. For remote controlled explorations and during the setup phase of a [[settlement]] on [[Mars]] it is required for [[radio link]] and data processing.
+'''Electronics''' is a technology for [[automation]] and the basis of modern information technology. For remote controlled explorations and during the setup phase of a [[settlement]] on [[Mars]] it is required for [[radio link]], data processing and the operationof robots and most vehicles.  Almost any equipement coming from Earth will contain some electronics, so the maintenance or the replacement of electronic equipment will be critical for the settlement survival.
 ==Vacuum tube==
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 *Vacuum tube are used as switches and amplifier in electronic circuits, with an anode, a cathode and a number of intermediary grids depending on the function.
 *Vacuum tubes might be buildable with in situ resources fairly soon in the development of a settlement.  So for some applications they might be used rather than electronics.  However, if the link with Earth is good, it's unlikely that they will get developpd much.
 ==Semiconductors==

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 ==Semiconductors==
-Transistors built using semiconductors are the modern form of electronics. They allow ultra-compact devices with low power consumption, but require a hi-tech industry to produce the material and the structures. Since the material is damageable by radiation, it must be shielded carefully and has a limited wear lifespan depending on the intensity of the radiation. The electrical parameters are strongly influenced by the temperature.
+Transistors built using semiconductors are the modern form of electronics. They allow ultra-compact devices with low power consumption, but require a hi-tech industry to produce the material and the structures. Since the material is damageable by radiation, it must be shielded carefully and has a limited wear lifespan depending on the intensity of the radiation. The electrical parameters are strongly influenced by the temperature.  Note that modern semiconductors are more strongly effected by radiation, older ones (from the 1970's and 1980's are less so).  So early Martian fabricators, may choose to create less sophisticated semiconductors as these simpler devices would be more radiation proof.
 *Semiconductors require large quantities of energy to refine the materials to the required degree of purity.  Therefore until the settlement is large enough to have large amounts of available energy it may be required to import electronics.  As the settlements grows more independent, it will require less transportation from Earth.  Energy will then become available for other uses, as the fraction of settlement resources dedicated to propellant production goes down.  Eventually, local semiconductor production will become economically viable.  Note that chips with hundreds or a few thousand transistors per chip are much easier to produce than modern semiconductors with millions of transistors per chip.  Such primitive semiconductors are also more resistant to radiation.