Quartz and memory

These guys sure got a lot of memories of these crystals:D
 

Attachments

  • Naica2_1.jpg
    Naica2_1.jpg
    84.2 KB · Views: 2
  • Naica5_1.jpg
    Naica5_1.jpg
    91.6 KB · Views: 3
Denver said:
I'm not sure it is the same compound. From what I can google, quartz contains silicon dioxide, which itself is not used in integrated circuits. Elemental pure silicon is.
Click to expand...

This is essentially what I've read in the literature, yes.

Industrial silicon is procured from silicon dioxide (silica). Silica, in turn, can be found in quartz, but it is not the only source nor is it the source used by semiconductor manufacturers.
 
Denver said:
I'm not sure it is the same compound. From what I can google, quartz contains silicon dioxide,...
Click to expand...

Quartz IS silicon dioxide.

Mineralogically
# Chemistry: SiO2 , Silicon dioxide
# Class: Silicates
# Subclass: Tectosilicates
# Group: Quartz
# Uses: silica for glass, electrical components, optical lenses, abrasives, gemstones, ornamental stone, building stone, etc.
Click to expand...


Denver said:
... which itself is not used in integrated circuits. Elemental pure silicon is.
Click to expand...

The oxide layer, which is critical to the functioning due to it's dielectric properties IS silicon dioxide (same as quartz) and is definitly in most circuits (Those not using some specialised dielectric {high-k, etc.}.)
See this Drawing of a CMOS transistor

My point was that the oxide layer being chemically (but amorphous rather than crystalline) the same as quartz, plus the crystalline nature of the silicon substrate used for the devices, could be conflated by SOME uncareful readers/listeners or dilettants to be the same things as quartz crystals, much as "silicon" and "silicone" are almost universally misused in "water cooler" conversation.

Cheers.

Dave

ETA: The most common source for industrial silicon is probably common sand but it is still the same chemical, just in a different form.
 
Last edited:
CaveDave said:
Quartz IS silicon dioxide.

Mineralogically





The oxide layer, which is critical to the functioning due to it's dielectric properties IS silicon dioxide (same as quartz) and is definitly in most circuits (Those not using some specialised dielectric {high-k, etc.}.)
See this Drawing of a CMOS transistor

My point was that the oxide layer being chemically (but amorphous rather than crystalline) the same as quartz, plus the crystalline nature of the silicon substrate used for the devices, could be conflated by SOME uncareful readers/listeners or dilettants to be the same things as quartz crystals, much as "silicon" and "silicone" are almost universally misused in "water cooler" conversation.

Cheers.

Dave

ETA: The most common source for industrial silicon is probably common sand but it is still the same chemical, just in a different form.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info. From what I had found about Silicon:

"Silicon has many industrial uses. Elemental silicon is the principal component of most semiconductor devices, most importantly integrated circuits or microchips. "

But I followed your CMOS link, and I also now see this about Silicon Dioxode:

"The natural ("native") oxide coating that grows on silicon is hugely beneficial in microelectronics. It is a superior electric insulator, with high chemical stability. In electrical applications, it can protect the silicon, store charge, block current, and even act as a controlled pathway to allow small currents to flow through a device."

So it notes that silicon dioxide can "store charge". Is that sufficient to use as memory storage?

And so, are we saying Quartz is indeed used to store information in a computer? Or that Quartz is a particular structure of many structures that can be formed with silicon dioxide, and that the structure we call Quartz is not, in fact, in computers?
 
Denver said:
Thanks for that info. ...
Click to expand...
I'm pleased that it helped you.:)

So it notes that silicon dioxide can "store charge". ...
Click to expand...
Any dielectric can store a charge, but SiO2 is mostly used because it is easy to grow on the wafer and is good at doing it's job.

... Is that sufficient to use as memory storage?
Click to expand...
With a little help. It will store it's charge long enough to be periodically "refreshed" automatically and it is very fast and compact. Total loss of power leaves it empty, though.

And so, are we saying Quartz is indeed used to store information in a computer?
Click to expand...
Yes and no. It is, in this case (CMOS memories), it is chemically the same but non-crystalline. It is also used as crystals to provide timing signals of high accuracy used to pace the operation of the refresh and read/write subsystems. Computers can have many dozens of separate crystal timebases for different subsystems. Disk storage devices also use many of them for timing.

... Or that Quartz is a particular structure of many structures that can be formed with silicon dioxide, ...
Click to expand...
Yes, quartz is a particular crystal structure of SiO2.

...and that the structure we call Quartz is not, in fact, in computers?
Click to expand...
As I (and several others) have stated, computers can have many actual pieces of quartz crystal in them, as timing generators or as delay devices for short-term data storage.

I hope this helps.:)

Dave
 
Thanks again Dave. My main question in the OP was whether quartz was used in computers to store information. I gather then that, while quartz is used in computers for its oscillation properties for timing, quartz is not used for storage. Silicon Dioxide, which makes up quartz, can be used for storage, but not when it is in a quartz crystalline configuration.

Getting closer?
 
Denver said:
Thanks again Dave. My main question in the OP was whether quartz was used in computers to store information. I gather then that, while quartz is used in computers for its oscillation properties for timing, quartz is not used for storage. Silicon Dioxide, which makes up quartz, can be used for storage, but not when it is in a quartz crystalline configuration.

Getting closer?
Click to expand...

Much.:)

My main question in the OP was whether quartz was used in computers to store information.
Click to expand...

Well, there is used and Used, I guess. Without timing signals the box would just sit there. Quartz is nearly indespensible for functioning in current machines, but you could get by using other methods, with a bit of work.

I imagine it depends on what the person you referred to had in mind when they made that statement, but I suspect they had a poor understanding of the subject and were making a simile about the compactness and organization of information. Maybe?
From your OP:
...He further explained that quartz could do this just like computers store information in quartz.
Click to expand...
Or, perhaps he was being literal.
...And getting it WRONG.


Silicon Dioxide, which makes up quartz, can be used for storage, but not when it is in a quartz crystalline configuration.
Click to expand...

AFAIK, at this time, yes.
At some future time, who can say.
There has been speculation for decades involving mass data storage in crystal lattices, maybe holographically using gamma or visible lasers or ultrasound to read bond dislocations or color centers to encode the data.

Some color center references.

Another.

HTH

Cheers,

Dave
 
CaveDave said:
Quartz IS silicon dioxide.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected. It would seem the explanation I was given contained an ambiguity that, had I bothered to dig a bit deeper (slaps self), would have become apparent. I apologize for submitting false data.
 
Last edited:
I found the investigator's words so off-base that I actually transcribed them (thank you, DVR) for just this sort of discussion:

Quartz crystal, you know, you have to look at it from the standpoint of a quartz battery, say, in a watch.

It can hold energies.

They use quartz in creating computer chips that actually store information.

So, we have got huge deposits of quartz crystal, natural iron, salt, water, and limestone. Basically what we have here is one giant quartz battery, able to store information, feelings, in the quartz, it's being powered the weak electromagnetic field that's being generated from the salt, affecting with the limestone and natural iron that we're finding here.

- Andy Andrews
Ghost Hunters International
Episode: Tortured Souls
Original Air Date: August 13, 2008
Location: Predjama Castle, Slovenia
Click to expand...
 
daSkeptic said:
I found the investigator's words so off-base that I actually transcribed them (thank you, DVR) for just this sort of discussion:


Quote:
Quartz crystal, you know, you have to look at it from the standpoint of a quartz battery, say, in a watch.

It can hold energies.

They use quartz in creating computer chips that actually store information.

So, we have got huge deposits of quartz crystal, natural iron, salt, water, and limestone. Basically what we have here is one giant quartz battery, able to store information, feelings, in the quartz, it's being powered the weak electromagnetic field that's being generated from the salt, affecting with the limestone and natural iron that we're finding here.

- Andy Andrews
Ghost Hunters International
Episode: Tortured Souls
Original Air Date: August 13, 2008
Location: Predjama Castle, Slovenia
Click to expand...

That is just sad. So very, very sad.
Back to school with him.



Thanks for the transcription, daSkeptic.

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom