How are microchips produced? - George Zaidan and Sajan Saini episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 9, 2026 · 8 MIN

How are microchips produced? - George Zaidan and Sajan Saini

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Travel into a computer chip to explore how these devices are manufactured and what can be done about their environmental impact.--Globally, we produce more than a trillion computer chips every year. Which means about 20 trillion transistors are built every second— and this process is done in fewer than 500 fabrication plants. How do we build so many tiny, intricately-connected devices, so incredibly fast? George Zaidan and Sajan Saini explore how photolithography helps build these devices and its environmental impact.Lesson by George Zaidan and Sajan Saini, directed by Kozmonot Animation Studio.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-are-microchips-made-george-zaidan-and-sajan-sainiDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-are-microchips-made-george-zaidan-and-sajan-saini/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.kozmonot.tv----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Matthew Neal, Denis Chon, Julian Oberhofer, Monte Carroll, Eddy, Jay M, Constantino Victor Delgado, Andrea Galvagni, Andrew Tweddle, Laurel-Ann Rice, Fernando A. Endo, Helen Lee, pam morgan, sarim haq, Gerardo Castro, Michel-Ange Hortegat, Enes Kirimi, Amaury BISIAUX, ND, Samyogita Hardikar, Vanessa Graulich, Vandana Gunwani, Abdulmohsin Almadi, AJ Lyon, Geoffrey Bultitude, Mi Mi, Thomas Rothert, Brian Elieson, Oge O, Weronika Falkowska, Nevin Spoljaric, Sid Chanpuriya, Anoop Varghese, David Yastremski, Noah Webb, Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev, Nicole Klau Ibarra, Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Petr Vacek, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Kari Teffeau, Cindy Lai, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, and Dan Nguyen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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How are microchips produced? - George Zaidan and Sajan Saini

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