LSI Logic of Silicon Valley proposes using sound to repair faulty microchips (US 6372520). Chips are made by beaming ions at pure silicon to implant semiconductor impurities, but these high speed particles can damage the silicon, leaving surface pits and cracks.
High-temperature annealing can repair this damage – but can destroy the chip’s circuitry. To escape this catch-22, LSI Logic hits the faulty microchip with high-pressure sound waves. This repairs the silicon by making surface molecules mobile enough to fill the pits and cracks, – without using high temperatures.
