Different from the graduation gifts such as books and souvenir albums imagined by graduates, the college carefully prepared a special graduation gift for them - a keychain embedded with a 2.8mm*2.8mm chip.

Li Di Science and Technology Daily reporter Shengli

Graduation season is approaching, and the first batch of undergraduates at the Demonstration Microelectronics College of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China also said goodbye to the campus. Different from the graduation gifts such as books and souvenir albums imagined by graduates, the college carefully prepared a special graduation gift for them - a keychain embedded with a 2.8mm*2.8mm chip. The chips in the keychain are the first chips designed by students in the college's "One-stop IC Comprehensive Experiment" special experimental course, and are finished products after tape-out.

tape-out is a process in which the designed circuit diagram is manufactured into a chip through a series of complex process steps. It is the ultimate criterion for testing the success of the chip design. It requires instructors to have rich design and tape-out experience. It is also the cost in the field of integrated circuits. The link that invests the most.

Keychain graduation gift with embedded 2.8mm*2.8mm chip. Photo courtesy of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

How did this special graduation gift come about? A reporter from Science and Technology Daily conducted an interview on June 28.

used a diamond knife to manually cut out more than 140 chips

"The chip in this keychain is really the chip we designed. Is it the finished product after tape-out? Hasn't the chip returned from tape-out been used for packaging, testing, and verification? Are you done yet?" Many graduates were confused when receiving their graduation certificates, degree certificates and keychains at the college office.

It turned out that some of the chips after the experimental tape-out were used for testing and verification, and had been packaged. Only more than 60 bare chips were left. After discussion, the course team teacher decided to send students to the "One-stop IC Comprehensive Experiment 1" before The silicon wafers processed at the time are diced and replenished.

At this time, the dicing machine in the college's micro-machining center was under maintenance. The dicing cycle of the outside company was too long, and the gift production time was already very tight, so it had to be made by manual dicing.

Teachers and students of the Demonstration School of Microelectronics use diamond knives to hand-make gifts. Photo courtesy of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Teacher Li Xiaohong of the Demonstration School of Microelectronics and three classmates worked overtime in the office all night, using diamond knives to cut out more than 140 chips.

"Last year we started planning how to give the first graduates an unforgettable graduation gift. Finally, we thought that the students designed their own chips and performed tape-out during the IC comprehensive experiment. We hope that this will witness everyone's hard work and sweat. The chips were made into gifts for them, said Professor Zhang Wanli, Dean of the Demonstration School of Microelectronics at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

Behind the gift is inseparable from the students’ four-year practical training.

This gift, which satisfied the first graduates of the Demonstration School of Microelectronics, was finally released. It is inseparable from the fact that the students received engineering training and improved their engineering capabilities.

Graduation photos of students from the Exemplary School of MicroelectronicsPhoto courtesy of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Professor Yu Qi, deputy dean of the Exemplary School of Microelectronics at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, said, “Fortunately, the three students came into contact with each other during their one-year engineering internship training in the company. Through the learning and training related to scribing. Although it is not as perfect as machine cutting, it is definitely heart-warming. "

" We have been working hard to expand the resources of alumni companies and well-known companies in the industry, and have signed more than 60 internship practice bases. "The quality of students' off-campus internship training." Liu Yi'an, a teacher at the Demonstration School of Microelectronics, said that as undergraduates at the Demonstration School of Microelectronics, the students all participated in the special education of the "'Three Ones' Project" during their college years. Dragon IC comprehensive experiment, one-time chip tape-out, one-year corporate internship training, etc.

In 2015, the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China's Demonstration Microelectronics College was approved to be established as one of the first nine demonstration microelectronics colleges in the country, and welcomed its first undergraduate class in 2016. This year, the college welcomes its first graduates. In order to cultivate talents for the industry, the college took the lead in writing the tape-out link into the undergraduate training program, and used the 0.13 micron process of the domestic mainstream manufacturers to conduct tape-out verification of the circuits designed by the students, truly completing the entire closed-loop process of IC design. It has pioneered the training of talents in domestic integrated circuit engineering. As of now, the overall postgraduate study rate of the college’s first undergraduate graduates exceeds 74%.

Editor: Zhang Shuang

Review: Zhu Li