Chips and Semiconductors · 晶片與半導體
Chips and Semiconductors 晶片與半導體
Chips are in almost everything we use, and Taiwan is famous for making them. But what is inside a chip? Zoom from sand to silicon to switches smaller than a virus, then see how chips are stacked for AI.
我們用的東西幾乎都有晶片，台灣也以製造晶片聞名。可是晶片裡到底有什麼？從沙子、矽，一路放大到比病毒還小的開關，再看看 AI 晶片怎麼疊在一起。
Every lesson starts with a question you might hear in the news or at the dinner table. A 3D model shows the answer, one idea at a time, and an English reading explains it, with Chinese a tap away.
每一課都從一個新聞裡、餐桌上會聽到的問題開始：先用 3D 模型看答案，一課只講清楚一個道理；再讀一篇英文短文把它說明白，中文翻譯隨點隨看。
The lessons are grouped into four units: what a semiconductor is, how chips are made, the chips behind AI, and chips in the real world. When a lesson touches an idea already explained in How Things Work, such as solar panels or computer memory, it links there instead of explaining it twice.
課程分成四個單元：半導體是什麼、晶片怎麼做出來、AI 時代的晶片、真實世界裡的晶片。遇到「萬物原理」已經講過的東西，例如太陽能板、電腦記憶體，就直接連過去，不重講一次。
Every number is checked against a source listed at the bottom of each lesson. Company names appear only to explain how chips are made, never as advice about stocks or investing.
每一個數字都查證過，出處列在每課最下方。提到公司名稱只是為了說明晶片怎麼做，不談股票，也不做任何投資建議。
12 of 12 lessons are ready so far; more are on the way.
目前完成 12 課（共規劃 12 課），持續增加中。
Unit 1 · 單元一
What Is a Semiconductor? 半導體是什麼
Why silicon conducts only a little, how a pinch of other atoms changes that, and how a switch with no moving parts runs every computer.
矽為什麼只導一點點電、加一點點別的原子怎麼改變它，以及沒有任何會動零件的開關怎麼讓電腦運作。
What Is a Semiconductor?
什麼是半導體？Copper conducts, glass does not, and silicon is in between. Test all three in 3D, then zoom into silicon's atoms and add a pinch of phosphorus or boron to see how a few atoms change everything.銅會導電、玻璃不會，矽介於兩者之間。在 3D 裡測試三種材料，再放大到矽的原子，加一點點磷或硼，看幾個原子怎麼改變一切。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →What Does a Transistor Do?
電晶體在做什麼？A transistor is a switch with no moving parts. Turn up the gate voltage and watch a channel of electrons appear in 3D, then wire two switches together to make AND, OR, and the first step of adding.電晶體是沒有任何會動零件的開關。在 3D 裡調高閘極電壓，看電子的通道長出來；再把兩個開關接在一起，做出「且」「或」和加法的第一步。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →Unit 2 · 單元二
How Chips Are Made 晶片怎麼做出來
From quartz to a shining wafer, drawing circuits with light, and how small a nanometer really is.
從石英到閃亮的晶圓、用光畫出電路，以及奈米到底有多小。
How Does Sand Become a Chip?
沙子怎麼變成晶片？Follow silicon from a pile of quartz sand to a shining wafer in 3D: melt it, purify it, pull a giant crystal out of a pot of liquid silicon, slice it thin, and cut out hundreds of chips. Then find out how many chips one wafer can hold.在 3D 裡跟著矽，從一堆石英砂走到閃亮的晶圓：熔煉、提純、從一鍋熔化的矽裡拉出一根大單晶、切成薄片，再切出幾百顆晶片。最後算算一片晶圓能做幾顆晶片。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →How Do You Draw a Circuit Smaller Than a Virus?
怎麼畫出比病毒還小的電路？Chips are drawn with light. In 3D, watch light shine through a mask and shrink onto a wafer, switch from DUV to EUV light made by blasting drops of tin, then cut open the wafer to see the five steps that carve a pattern. Then make a sun print on your screen.晶片是用光畫出來的。在 3D 裡看光穿過光罩、縮小印到晶圓上；從 DUV 切換到用雷射打錫滴產生的 EUV；再把晶圓剖開，看刻出圖案的五個步驟。最後在螢幕上曬一張藍曬圖。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →How Small Is a Nanometer? An Angstrom?
奈米、埃米有多小？News about chips is full of nanometers and angstroms. Zoom in 3D from your fingernail to a hair, a blood cell, a virus, the lines on a chip, and at last single silicon atoms. Then find out how many nanometers your nails have grown since you opened this page.晶片的新聞裡到處是奈米和埃米。在 3D 裡從指甲一路放大：頭髮、紅血球、病毒、晶片上的線，最後是一顆顆矽原子。再算算看，從你打開這一頁到現在，指甲長了幾奈米。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →Unit 3 · 單元三
Chips for the AI Age AI 時代的晶片
Why chips are stacked together, why AI needs fast memory, and how Taiwan became a chip island.
晶片為什麼要疊在一起、AI 為什麼需要快速的記憶體，以及台灣怎麼成為晶片島。
Why Do We Stack Chips Together?
先進封裝：為什麼要把晶片疊在一起？One chip cannot be made as big as we like, so engineers put many chips into one package, side by side or stacked like floors in a building. In 3D, compare chips set apart on a board, side by side on an interposer, and stacked, then take the package apart layer by layer.一顆晶片沒辦法想做多大就做多大，所以工程師把很多顆晶片放進同一個封裝裡：並排，或像大樓的樓層一樣疊起來。在 3D 裡比較三種放法——分開焊在板子上、並排放在中介層上、疊起來——再把封裝一層一層拆開來看。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →What Is HBM, and Why Does AI Need It?
HBM 是什麼？AI 為什麼需要它？An AI chip can calculate very fast, but it often has to wait for its data. HBM is memory stacked like a tower right beside the chip and joined to it by a road with more than a thousand lanes. In 3D, compare ordinary memory with four generations of HBM, then work out how many movies it could move in one second.AI 晶片算得很快，卻常常要等資料。HBM 是像高塔一樣疊起來的記憶體，就放在晶片旁邊，中間是一條有上千個車道的路。在 3D 裡比較一般記憶體和四代 HBM，再算算它一秒可以搬幾部電影。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →How Did Taiwan Become a Chip Island?
台灣怎麼成為晶片島？A chip is designed, made, and packaged by different companies, and Taiwan has important ones for every step. On a 3D map, follow one chip from Hsinchu to Tainan to Kaohsiung and out to the world, then drag a timeline from 1973 to see how the industry grew. Finish by sorting companies by the job they do.一顆晶片由不同的公司負責設計、製造和封裝，而每一段台灣都有重要的公司。在 3D 地圖上跟著一顆晶片從新竹到台南、再到高雄，最後送往全世界；再從 1973 年開始拉時間軸，看這個產業怎麼長大。最後玩個小遊戲，分分看哪家公司做哪一段。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →Unit 4 · 單元四
Chips in the Real World 真實世界裡的晶片
Why chips get hot, how an AI chip differs from an ordinary one, why a fab needs so much water and power, and what an LED has to do with semiconductors.
晶片為什麼會發熱、AI 晶片和一般的 CPU 哪裡不一樣、晶圓廠為什麼需要那麼多水和電，以及 LED 和半導體有什麼關係。