Silicon Wafers at the Heart of Modern Technology

Silicon wafers have been driving innovation for more than half a century, with seemingly every electronic device in the home dependent upon its technology. That covers the full range from hearing aids and credit card security chips to MP3 players, computers and smartphones.

A Building Block For Electronics

All operate courtesy of highly sophisticated patterns of circuitry installed following a production flow that begins with the growth of a silicon ingot and concludes with the silicon wafer polishing process. In simplest terms, the fact that silicon is a semiconductor and silicon dioxide, which results from contact with oxygen, is an electrical insulator makes silicon the optimal building block for modern electronics.

Growing a Silicon Ingot

Growing a silicon ingot can take up to a month depending upon the ultimate use of the finished product. The first step is to heat the silicon to its melting point of 1420 degrees Celsius. For perspective, the melting points of aluminum and gold are 659 and 1063 degrees, respectively. A single silicon crystal is placed atop the melted silicon, which is allowed to cool. Once the ingot is grown for between a week and a month, it is ground to a size slightly larger than what will be the silicon wafer’s final size and then sliced with a diamond edge saw – again to a thickness slightly greater than the specification for the finished product.

Silicon Wafer Polishing

Silicon wafer polishing, the final step of the production process, takes place in a clean room in which workers must wear suits that cover them from head to toe. These clean room suits neither collect nor carry any particles. As an added measure, fans blow away dust and dirt that might have been present before entering the room.

At that point, the wafers are ready for multiple copies of circuit patterns to be printed (“microlithography”) and stacked atop the surface. Following a final test for faulty functionality, the wafer is carefully cut one more time to separate the multiple copies of the chip.…

Factors to Consider Before Starting a Small Online Business

Online businesses have taken center stage in recent years. From the time when brick and mortar establishments were a must for any business, today, most businesses are only present online. Like any other offline business, an online business requires a good business plan and a strategy to create a market for your products and/or services. Additionally, there are some important factors that you must consider before starting an online business. In this article, we will talk about all these factors to help you get started.

Factors to Consider Before Starting a Small Online Business

Before we start, we would like to point out certain mistakes that most small online businesses commit leading to their failure:

1. The business never gets out of the planning stage. While it’s good to have a better safe than sorry approach, too much planning usually leads to inaction and your business never takes off. Plan well but ensure that you start.
2. A blog is not a business. A blog is for connecting with people, creating a network, and sharing ideas. While some bloggers monetize their blogs, the returns are not equivalent to a business.
3. Dreaming big is good, but the business plan needs to be realistic. There is no such thing as an overnight success. A successful business requires a plan and countless hours of hard work.

Here are the factors that you should keep in mind before you start a small online business:

Choose a good domain name for your website

A domain name is your identity on the internet. It must be short, easy to remember, and relevant to your business. A good domain name is usually the difference between a successful online business and a not-so-successful one.

Create a website that visitors enjoy

There are millions of websites online. As a new business, it is already difficult to get people to visit your website. Hence, it is important to create a website that is easy to navigate, offers interesting and original content, a self-service knowledge base, and makes the user leave with a good experience. This will ensure that you have returning visitors and good word-of-mouth publicity.

Choosing the right Web Host is Critical

Every website needs a host. A good host ensures that you can offer uninterrupted services to your customers, secure browsing experience, and instant resolution of any technical errors. Many small online businesses avail the cloud hosting services from a Cloud Hosting Provider who understands the needs of online businesses and offers relevant features in the hosting plan.

Secure Financial Transactions

Being an online business, you will accept online payments from your customers. Hence, it is important to deploy stringent security measures to ensure that the banking and personal information entered by users on your website is safe.

Dynamic marketing Strategies

As your business grows, you will need to keep changing your marketing strategies to engage your existing users while attracting new customers. Hence, it is important to have a dynamic marketing strategy that is based on an analysis of people’s demand and online behavior.

Summing Up

Starting an online business is easy. However, it is important that you take the factors mentioned above into consideration so that you give yourself a good chance at success. Remember, people expect businesses to offer value over and above the products and services offered by them. Listen to your customers and slowly and steadily see your business grow. Good Luck!…

Where Are Diesel Engines Used?

Most people think of large semi-trucks when they consider diesel engines, or they may consider the older truck they were stuck behind in traffic that emitted the clouds of black smoke. Although those two engines may often include diesel, they are not the only places that the durable and efficient engines are used. Here are a few locations you may find the hard-working engines.

Generators

Diesel engine powered generators are much more fuel efficient than gasoline powered engines. In fact, if given the same amount of measured fuel, the diesel will out-perform the gasoline powered generator nearly every time. The modern diesel engine is much quieter than the gasoline in generators, as well.

Locomotives

Railways have long known the efficiency and reliability of the diesel-powered locomotive. Not only are the engines tough working, but they also need less service like fuel air separation system replacements than other types of railway engines. Because they are so dependable, many countries use the diesel-powered locomotive engine to haul much needed freight to remote areas.

Tractors

Construction equipment such as bulldozers, loaders, and forklifts all have diesel engines because they are powerful and reliable. Farm equipment such as tractors, bailers, loaders, and plows also have diesel engines because of their ability to work hard without breaking down.

Ships

Marine vehicles are often found with diesel engines. From cargo ships to cruise vessels to leisure cruisers, they all have the reliable and money saving diesel engine – many using the reciprocating diesel. Repairs are fewer and further between, and the diesel is a workhorse when it comes to powering huge boats or ships.

Cars

Trucks and cars around the world have diesel engines. Not only are the vehicles considered more economical, but the engines also last longer between maintenance cycles, and that means a great deal of money savings to vehicle owners. The engines also emit less CO2 than their gasoline counterparts.

People all over the world prefer diesel engines over gasoline. The diesel engines are considered more sturdy, reliable, and efficient – because they are.…