Raw material
Silica sand and the carbon that reduces it.
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At a glance
Inputs
- Quartz / silica sand (SiO₂)
- Carbon sources (coke, coal, wood chips)
- Electrical energy
Outputs
- Metallurgical-grade silicon (MGS), ~98–99% pure
What is it?
The starting feedstock for silicon chips: high-purity silica (SiO₂), typically from quartz sand, plus carbon sources used to reduce it to elemental silicon.
Why is it needed?
Every silicon wafer begins as ordinary quartz. The purity and consistency of the feedstock set the floor for everything downstream — contamination introduced here is expensive or impossible to remove later.
How does it work?
Quartz (SiO₂) is heated with carbon in a submerged-arc furnace. The carbon strips the oxygen, leaving metallurgical-grade silicon (MGS), which is roughly 98–99% pure.
MGS is still far too impure for electronics — it is the raw input to the purification step, not a finished material.
Critical parameters
- Feedstock purity
- Furnace temperature
- Carbon-to-silica ratio
Typical defects
- Metallic impurities (Fe, Al, Ca)
- Inconsistent purity between batches
Equipment involved
- Submerged-arc / electric-arc furnace
Materials involved
- Silica sand
- Carbon reductants
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