The Long Trip From Silica to Smartphone

Posted4 months agoActive3 months ago

sohkamyung

117 points

21 comments

spectrum.ieee.orgTechstory

calmpositive

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20/100

Semiconductor ManufacturingSupply ChainSmartphone Production

Key topics

Semiconductor Manufacturing

Supply Chain

Smartphone Production

The article 'The Long Trip from Silica to Smartphone' details the complex journey of raw materials transforming into a smartphone, sparking discussions on supply chain localization, environmental impact, and the intricacies of modern technology.

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01Story posted
Sep 25, 2025 at 8:07 AM EDT
4 months ago
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Sep 29, 2025 at 1:01 AM EDT
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11 comments in 84-96h
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Sep 29, 2025 at 11:15 PM EDT
3 months ago
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Discussion (21 comments)

Showing 21 comments

scorpioxy

3 months ago

3 replies

Interesting and still going through the article but I thought a lot of the metals would come from Africa. Somewhere like the Congo. I read a few articles a few years ago about how the conflict there was being fed by the multinationals that want access to the rare-earth metals that the area is famous for. Specifically, the allegation was pointed at telecom and smartphone manufacturers.

Learning about the conflict that has been going on for quite a while, makes me believe that something is fueling that fire. Didn't expect to see Spain as step 1.

Aurornis

3 months ago

2 replies

You’re thinking of tantalum, which is only used for a specific type of capacitor.

bilbo0s

3 months ago

1 reply

"only"?

Because there are so many alternative materials fit for purpose. /s

That "only" is kind of "Jedi Hand Wave"-esque.

That said, neither Spain, nor Congo are the be all end all. The required resources exist elsewhere, but I mean.. you know.. money and politics.

Aurornis

3 months ago

> That "only" is kind of "Jedi Hand Wave"-esque.

The “only” is because the article was not about tantalum capacitors, and therefore it didn’t come up in the article.

I was not making any comments trying to diminish any problems. Merely explaining why it’s not in the article per the parent comment.

close04

3 months ago

Congo is the largest supplier of Cobalt (70% of the world supply). This is why a lot o battery manufacturers advertise their reduced reliance on Cobalt.

____mr____

3 months ago

1 reply

I wondered the same thing and apparently China, India, Brazil and Turkey outrank Spain in exportation of quartz, it was just the authors decision to go with Spain (probably because it was an example of a direct line from quarry to furnace?) but yeah, this is obviously not the only route that makes chips.

gsf_emergency_2

3 months ago

I was amused that higher quality quartz from Spruce Pines NC (Sibelco) doesn't go into the chips themselves, but the silicon crucibles (makes sense in retrospect because you need your tools to be finer than the product, but as a chip-user..) and display glass

chromehearts

3 months ago

I think Congo was especially rich about Lithium! Which is primarily used for batteries of course

ypk2

3 months ago

1 reply

5. Processed Wafers

Great visualisation from Branch Education: https://youtu.be/B2482h_TNwg

solstice

3 months ago

1 reply

Mindblowing to see the staggeringly high tower of tech upon which modern chips are build. Machines capable of nanometer-precision movements at speeds subjecting their parts to 7G of acceleration... 25KW lasergun pew-pewing tin droplets 50k times per second... The sheer complexity of modern chip designs...

It really evokes Douglas Adams' quip that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

peaseagee

3 months ago

1 reply

Just FYI, that was Arthur C. Clarke. Douglas Adams is also extremely quotable, just that one wasn't his.

solstice

3 months ago

Oh thank you! Should have listened to my inner voice pushing me to verify the quote's origin

komali2

3 months ago

1 reply

The massive supply chain for transistors / chips is something I chew on as one of the big unsolved problems of localization of supply chains, something I think most communities (and nations) should be taking very seriously in the face of geopolitical and environmental destabilization. Plus it's better for your economy or whatever, I don't know, it just seems crazy to me that entire economies can collapse if one country decides to close its mines or another country decides to blockade the country where all the chips are made.

There's always guys like this: https://simplifier.neocities.org/ whipping up stuff in their backyard, but so far as I know there's no serious alternatives for general computing that I could, with serious organization with, say, my entire city and the surrounding countryside (which includes some mines), use in case of global destabilization to start building our own computers.

Tinfoil hat guy maybe but I think we should have that kind of backup plan ready. Just in case!

ragebol

3 months ago

Interesting, the Simplifier dude. Curious when he and John Plant of Primitive Technology will meet with their content.

The tech tree both of these people have under their belt are huge, but the work Primitive Technology has to put in to get close to Simplifier's start is still huge. So much work required to get even a bit of metal.

Getting back to the level we're in as as society right now after a global catastrophe is going to a take quite a while. Some of the information to get going again is digital, so accessing might be impossible if things are bad enoguh

skandinaff

3 months ago

1 reply

"The result is silicon metal and carbon monoxide."

The article keeps mentioning of silicon metal, but wasn't silicon a metalloid at best?

philipkglass

3 months ago

"Silicon metal" means "elemental silicon" in this context. Silicon was first industrially important for the manufacture of specialty steel, so some of the vocabulary is still influenced by its early proximity to steel production.

"Transactions of the American Electrochemical Society v. 29 (1916)"

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433090838537&se...

SILICON-METAL

A special steel of great importance to electrical industry is silicon steel, used in electrical transformer construction and all alternating-current apparatus. Silicon metal and 75 percent ferrosilicon essential in its manufacture are produced only at Niagara Falls. The ageing of transformer steel has long been the cause of a serious falling off in efficiency. This loss often doubled after a few years' use. Silicon steel does not age. Moreover, its original hysteresis loss is 25 percent less than that of the old type of steel.

The saving in a large generating and distributing system from the generator through step-up and step-down transformers to the motor may be as high as 6 percent. Thus silicon steel, a comparatively unknown product, is saving many millions of dollars annually wherever electric energy is transformed.

Silicon metal as a "preparedness" product is important in the generation of hydrogen for aeronautical purposes. In conjunction with caustic soda it forms the cheapest method of generating hydrogen in the field or on shipboard when portable outfits are required.

NetMageSCW

3 months ago

1 reply

Reminds me of the story of trying to make a cheeseburger from scratch which requires practically all of civilization.

mrheosuper

3 months ago

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe"

amelius

3 months ago

Now I know why people walk all the way to Santiago de Compostela. It's the birthplace of their smartphone.

physarum_salad

3 months ago