SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPS

TOPIC: Science & Tech

Context- The Russian invasion is making the global chip shortage situation worse.

Concept-

Why is the Russian invasion impacting chip shortage?

According to a report by Moody’s Analytics, Ukraine supplies rare gases used to produce semiconductor fab lasers, and
Russia exports rare metals like palladium to make semiconductors.
This combination is required to build chipsets that power a range of devices, from automobiles to smartphones.

Palladium:

Palladium is often used as an alternative to gold in making various devices.
Palladium metal is highly malleable and resistant to corrosion.
The rare metal is considered to be softer than gold, but is still much harder and durable than the yellow metal.
This quality of palladium gives it more protection against an impact and a greater resistance to denting.
So, automobile makers, electronics manufacturers and biomedical device producers prefer the silverywhite metal.
Russia and South Africa are the two largest producers of palladium.
While platinum and rhodium could be substituted for palladium, Russia is also a leading producer of the other platinum group metals.
Palladium is used in nearly all electronic devices, and the metal is a key to make chipsets and circuit boards.
It is used to make multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), which are important to make smartphone screens, stereo systems, and power circuit breakers.