MATERIALS AND COMPONENT PROCESSING IN SPACE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R001101630038-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 4, 2008
• Sequence Number: 38
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2008/02/04: CIA-RDP85M00364RO01101630038-2
Central Intelligence Agency
Office of the Deputy Director for Science & Techn
Approved For Release 2008/02/04: CIA-RDP85M00364RO01101630038-2
 Approved For Release 2008/02/04: CIA-RDP85M00364RO01101630038-2
Manufacturing or processi
for those operations which can
(2) co it. oos near-perfect,
eero" ira v'i t ` environment. !
environment is the most diffi
}~..XO~ i1t1Vt ft .giEtry
s only logs.
One or both of the two
ed' vacuum and a
the zero gravity
of significance. Processing in space or on earth is not so much
a question of cost tradeoffs but whether an operation can be
performed in space which otherwise could not be performed at
Without gravity, liquid and vapor phase materials are
exceptionally ho eneous since both convective cooling effects
and the concentration gradients produced by sedimentation are
absent. Solidification of these ater#al. can produce large,
rally perfect crystals with accurately controlled and very
purities or concentrations of departs. examples; large
therefore sensitive Mercy `i'c- Iodide gamma detectors, solar
cells near the limit of theoretical.efficiency, and large area
avalanche photo diodes are possible with such crystals, which
cannot be produced otherwise. In general these process and _
materials controls can enhance the performance and rel iabl_
any semi -conductor device.
The separation and concentration of the large macromolecules
of biological ate `ials which on earth is limited by sedimentation
is factlito .ued by zero--gravity. Consequently space pro ?essln9 can
yield quantltlies of medicines and biochemicals which are
unobtainable by earth-based processing,
wotwi that andi ng the above, there is no obvious advantage in
doing space processing for the complex and elaborate fabrication
required in manufacture of mi'cxo-chips and integrated circuits.
1 Given the above space-processed materials, final fabrication can
I most expeditiously and economically be done in terrestial
f facilities.
1
 Approved For Release 2008/02/04: CIA-RDP85M00364RO01101630038-2
Roy,
The suggested advantage of semi-conductor manufacture in
space involves the crystal ingots which are the basic material
from which integrated circuits are fabricated. Under zero
gravity, these crystals would be grown with (it is thought)
fewer imperfections. The reduction in imperfections would
result in a higher yield rate for standard-sized circuits
and could potentially allow fabrication of larger circuits
with an acceptable yield rate. It is possible that it could
be economical to accomplish this portion of the IC fabrication
process in space. It is not clear if other steps in the process
could economically take advantage of--the zero gravity, high
vacuum, or low temperatures of space.
Approved For Release 2008/02/04: CIA-RDP85M00364RO01101630038-2