6mo ago

Axiom Space pitches idea to produce chipmaking materials in space, plans trials aboard ISS

www.tomshardware.com

9 comments

We bouta get space factories before affordable housing.
- Time for LYNX CORPORATION then.
  
  Shipbreaker!
This seems like an insane idea, cosmic radiation causes so many measurable impacts even on earth with things like bit flips, this would be a huge issue in space with no magnetic field and atmosphere. I would think this would focus on low density slower speed chips, and likely avoid anything with flash storage.
- That doesn't matter for the undoped crystal structure of the semiconductor material itself. It's like making low background steel: once it's made the radiation in the atmosphere won't mess it up. So then they bring it back to actually make the chips with.
  
  Yeah, this is focused on the materials only. Can't get a better vacuum I guess.
- There’s a possibility we could get new or more complex crystal structures by processing materials in space, getting more resilient or better properties to then be used in actual chips after it gets back to earth. Space factories will be more for material handling and processing than actual fabrication (minus deep space ship construction).
I can kinda see where the vacuum and (lack of) gravity might help with crystal growth but how do you then return something that sensitive back to earth?
- Once it's made, it isn't as sensitive. The crystals themselves are stable. It's just growing them from cooling the melted material in a particular way might be sensitive to other forces while it's being made.
  Think about how big diamonds need nearly perfect conditions to form underground. But once they're formed, they can be taken out and they will keep their crystalline structure even outside of the conditions in which they were formed.
  Even growing salt crystals from salt water can be super sensitive to slightly imperfect conditions. But a block of salt crystal, once formed, is pretty durable.

9 comments