Where USB Memory Sticks are Born (2013)

(2013) but I think 13 years later there might still be such operations in existence, although using much worse TLC/QLC NAND.

The Intel/Micron L73A die shown there is 25nm MLC rated for 3K cycles, and was already the bottom tier of the time; these days, good TLC is around 1.5-3K, and bottom-tier QLC is rated at less than 1K cycles (600-800 seems typical). (For comparison, there is also the M73A of roughly the same era, which is SLC rated for 60K cycles.)

> The lady is using some sort of tool made out of hand-cut bamboo. I still haven’t figured out exactly how they work, but every time I’ve seen this process they are using what looks like a modified chopstick to place the chips on the board. My best guess is that the bamboo sticks have just the right surface energy to adhere to the silicon die, such that silicon will stick to the tip of the bamboo rod.

I wonder how such a tool differs from the wax-pencil placer tools used in diamond painting, or the silicone-cone-tip tools used in "bedazzling" (rhinestone placing).

The wirebonding process is interesting but not nearly as interesting as how the chip itself is made.