Glossary of Industry Terms

The process of combining hydrogen with uncommitted atoms at or near the silicon-silicon dioxide interface on a metalized semiconductor wafer.

The process of mechanically thinning the backside of a finished semiconductor wafer.

The process of depositing a metal layer on the backside of a finished wafer.

The final integrated semiconductor circuit.

The process of forming a crystal ingot; a seed crystal of silicon is attached to a rod and “pulled” out of a silicon melt to form an ingot.

The crystal pulling method used to form crystal ingots.

The process of applying a thin film to a substrate using a controlled chemical reaction.

A general term used to describe the addition of material layers on a semiconductor wafer.

An individual device or chip cut from a semiconductor wafer.

A doping process; a high-temperature furnace is used to diffuse an applied layer of dopant into the wafer surface.

The process of introducing impurity elements (dopants) into a semiconductor wafer to form regions of differing electrical conductivity. The two most common doping processes are diffusion and ion implantation.

A specific chemical vapor deposition process used to form a thin elemental crystal layer on top of an identical substrate crystal.

The process of removing silicon dioxide layers, accomplished by “wet etching” with chemicals or by “dry etching” with ionized gases.

A process used to deposit conducting metal layers on a substrate. Heat is used to evaporate a metal source which then condenses on the cooler wafer surface.

A polycrystalline silicon cylinder formed by crystal pulling.

A doping process; the dopant material is ionized and magnetically accelerated to strike the wafer surface, thereby embedding the dopant into the substrate.

The process of mechanically grinding the surface of a sliced wafer.

The die attachment surface and lead attachment points that a die or chip is attached to prior to wire bonding and packaging.

The process of oxidizing the wafer surface to form a thin layer of silicon dioxide.

The process of applying a final passivating or protective layer of either silicon nitride or silicon dioxide to a wafer.

The process of creating patterns on a silicon substrate. The main steps of the process include photoresist application, mask alignment, photoexposure, developing, and etching the portions of the substrate that are unprotected by the resist.

A mask that delineates the pattern applied to a substrate during photolithography.

A photosensitive material applied to a wafer and exposed to a device pattern during photolithography.

An amorphous form of silicon with randomly oriented crystals, used to produce silicon ingots.

Silica sand used as a raw material to produce metallurgical grade silicon.

An etching process that uses physical sputtering and chemically reactive species to remove metal layers.

A semimetallic element used to create a wafer.

The process of introducing silicon atoms into the surface of an organic photo resist in order to harden the photo resist.

The process used to create the integrated circuits (silicon chips) that are present in everyday electrical and electronic devices. It is a multiple-step sequence of photographic and chemical processing steps during which electronic circuits are gradually created on a wafer made of pure semiconducting material. Silicon is the most commonly used semiconductor material today, along with various compound semiconductors. The entire manufacturing process, from start to packaged chips ready for shipment, takes six to eight weeks and is performed in highly specialized facilities referred to as fabs.

The process of depositing a metal layer onto a wafer by bombarding a target metal material with an argon plasma. The metal is dislodged and deposited on the wafer.